More people stay away from junk food

As the health risks from salt and food additives become more understood, many Jakartans have begun to wean themselves of junk food.

Bambang Wahyudi said he was a connoisseur of junk food and developed a habit of eating it on a daily basis in the belief that to do so was part of a modern lifestyle.

“When I was younger, it would look cool if we hung out at fast food joints. It became my habit, going there and munching on burgers, fried chicken or just French fries,” he said.

He stopped going to fast food restaurants when he started to go to the gym two years ago.

“It would have been useless if I exercised but kept eating junk food. So I gradually stopped eating fast food and started eating more vegetables and other food that has lots of protein,” he said.

And as he read more about it, he began to learn the negative impacts of junk food.

Now, not only does Bambang have a six-pack, but he feels a lot healthier too.

Bambang also said that now a days he did not get tired easily despite his busy working hours at an advertising agency, and his dance classes.

“And the good thing about staying away from junk food is that I can save lots of money. Junk food is actually kind of expensive,” he said.

Now, Bambang is repulsed by the dank smell of fried chicken and the sight of a stale cheeseburger.

Another reformed junk food addict, Riani Dwi Lestari, quit fast food after she was admitted to a hospital with acute gastritis.

“The doctor said I ate too much food that was rich in fat and monosodium glutamate [MSG], which I assumed came from fast food,” Riani said.

A serious burger addict, Riani said it had taken major determination to withdraw from junk food, especially because others in her family continued to eat it.

Riani said she finally joined a hypnotherapy class to convince herself that other types of food that she consumed tasted just as good as burgers.

“At first, I quickly relapsed, but over time the hypnotherapy finally worked and finally I was able to be free from junk food,” she said.

Now – one year on – she has started losing weight.

Nutrition expert Phaidon Toruan said that fast food brought risks other than obesity. He said that junk food contained toxic chemicals that could over time damage the body’s functions.

The combination of sugar, fat and MSG in fast food can lead to addiction, which in turn can lead to obesity, he said.

The only solution to this addiction is to switch to consuming normal food, he added.

“The human body needs naturally occurring ingredients: Vegetables, fruit and fish and not synthetic food like fast food,” he said. Phaidon said that once people stopped eating junk food they would build a defense mechanism against junk food.

“People will then find fast food nauseating as the body has started to experience detoxification,” he said.

A survey released by the Health Ministry last year found that Jakarta, home to many fast food restaurants, had the highest rate of overweight children, citing that nearly 20 percent of children aged under 5 suffered from overnutrition.