Reading 1 : Why do we love junk food?

You asked us a question. "Why do we love junk food?"

 
A lot of money goes into making junk food. A lot of strategy goes into
making junk good too. Effort also is a big part of making junk food.

The goal is to make it cheap. It needs to be easy. And even though it has
little to no nutritional value it keeps you wanting more.
 
It is often high in things like salt and sugar. It also has a lot of fat. They
start pleasure centers in our brains. Those make us feel oh-so-yummy-
good. And they make us want to keep eating.
 
See, our brains are pretty big. They need
a lot of energy to do their thing. So we
evolved to love high-energy food.
 
Beyond the super high calorie count,
junk food makers have a million tricks
up their sleeves. That is when it comes
to making us really want their products.
 
Like the melt-in-your-mouth quality that tricks us. We think the calories
have magically floated away.
 
Or boosting flavor just short of what is called, "sensory specific satiety."  It
is flavor that is really big. It overwhelms your brain. And you end up not
wanting anymore.
 
We know that it is not good for us. Eating junk food it is linked with many
health problems. Some of those are obesity and diabetes. Heart disease
and even cancer are also linked to junk food. But even with those
problems junk food can be really hard to resist.
 
Food for thought, for sure.