In his essay "Escape from the Western Diet," Michael Pollan argues that the diet of Western cultures has led to an epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. He believes that this is due to our reliance on processed foods, which are high in sugars, fats, and refined carbohydrates. Pollan supports his argument by presenting evidence from scientific studies and historical trends. He notes that the rise of the processed food industry in the mid-twentieth century coincided with a sharp increase in rates of obesity and other health problems. He also cites studies that show that people who eat fewer processed foods and more whole, natural foods have better health outcomes.
In recent decade, the United States has seen supermarkets continuously get filled with packages labeled with things like “Low sodium” or “No Trans Fats.” Companies stick these labels on their food to match the current fads of what is good for you and what is not. In his essay Unhappy Meals, Michael Pollan advocates a return to natural and basic foods, and deplores nutritionism. Pollan argues that nutritionism does not actually tell people what is healthy or not, and that the only way to be sure you are eating healthy is to eat natural, fresh food.
Throughout ancient and modern times, we used sugar on a wide variety of foods, from salmon to bagels. It has been something that we have put of foods for centuries and we have not noticed that using sugar can cause sickness’s, such as metabolic syndrome and diabetes. In the article “It’s the Sugar, Folks”, by Mark Bittman, it explains the reasons that sugar can be toxic, specifically fructose. Fructose can lead to many things, such as obesity, but can also lead to diabetes. In a variety of studies from trusted sources, they explain that if there is more sugar available to a population, the rates of people getting diabetes grows.
In the article “How Junk Food Can End Obesity”, David Freedman talks about the processed food’s role in American obesity. He think processed foods should not be consider as one simple problem. And processed foods are not the only reason which cause Obesity. Freedman came up his argument with two event of his experiences with foods which were unprocessed fruits and vegetables.
After learning the truth about our country’s food systems, I have become more skeptical of mass produced foods and the processes the animals go through to become the food we eat today. Good and healthy food is very important to myself and to my family. Food means a lot in my family. A meal is an essential part of each day. While sipping my delicious soup, that my grandparents would make for my me
The discovery of the main components of food, which include proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, known as “macronutrients” by William Prout has blossomed into the cultural of “nutritionism” that we have today. What we put into our bodies is no longer “real food” but instead “food like substance”. Due to advancements in nutritional science the food industry can construct products that look like food and go back and add in the desired “nutrients” instead of eating the
Author Michael Moss attempts to educate the general public about the creation of processed foods in his article, “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food.” The article was published in The New York Times on, February 20, 2013. In his article Moss explains to the public how the food created and how it can also cause serious health problems. In order to get his point across Moss list multiple facts
Lustig (2012) explains and suggests the following: Authorities consider sugar as ‘empty calories’ but there is nothing empty about these calories. A growing body of scientific evidence is showing that fructose can trigger processes that lead to liver toxicity and a host of other chronic diseases… they [Government] must consider limiting fructose and its main delivery vehicles, the added sugars HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup) and sucrose, which pose dangers to individuals and to society as a whole. (p.28) Another process that occurs in the body is that, “sugar dampens the suppression of the hormone ghrelin, which signals hunger to the brain…interferes with the normal transport and signaling of the hormone leptin, which helps to produce the feeling of satiety…and it reduces dopamine signaling in the brain’s reward center” (Lustig, 2012, p. 28). Though these are only a few examples and there are many more such as sugar feeding cancer cells, it should give you a basic understanding of just how bad sugar is for the
Michael Pollan summarizes what we should eat in his book IN DEFENSE OF FOOD. There are many “edible food like substances in the supermarket” (1) indicates his disagreement how people consume processed food from supermarket. So, he advises people to eat whole fresh food and avoid the treated food. “Lots of processed foods and meats…makes people sick and fat” (10). Pollan concerns regarding public health due to processed food and then encourages people to eat lots of fruits and vegetables to be healthy.
First, Too much sugar can cause serious damage health probs, for example, there’s a chance of obesity, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes. and tooth decay. Like so, Robert Lustig pediatrician in CA, “sugar sweetened drinks are the biggest source of added sugar in the american diet”. Which means there is TOO much sugar in a “America
Sugar, which is in almost everything, is one of the biggest problems. As noted on, “Is Sugar Toxic”, Dr. Robert Lustig, the lead researcher says sugar links to a number of diseases from obesity to heart disease. He also states that 75% of these are preventable. Studies have shown that when we consume sugar, it’s equivalent to when someone does cocaine. Another study by Dr. Cantley has shown that sugar can help cancerous cells grow and multiply.
Because of what were eating! Statics show that everything we eat and drink, actually makes us less and less healthier. Were killing ourselves one granola bar at time. Yes granola bars, that yummy bar that your mom gives you for lunch as a healthier version of a chocolate bar. No matter how much fruit or ridiculous amount of fiber they are always extremely high in sugar.
I. We consume 8,500mg of salt per day, almost all from processed food. This is only one of the many reasons people have poor nutrition. Humans tend to not know the difference between processed and real foods causing the nutrition levels in our society to drop at an alarming rate. For years this problem has been a big factor to obesity and illness. Real food is single ingredient with no chemicals even if they’re ground and put into a jar.
Sugar in processed foods is, quite clearly, the leading cause of obesity in America. Obesity is one of the leading causes of health problems in America. So the next time you have the choice between processed foods full of unhealthy sugars and a healthy sugar-free option, you know which one to
In “How Junk Food Can End Obesity,” by David H. Freedman, he claims that processed foods can help fix the obesity crisis in a more realistic manner, rather than whole-some foods. The popular opinion emphasizes whole-some foods because they aren’t informed about the similitude between processed and unprocessed foods. The essence of the essay is that people believe processed foods are bad and unhealthy for us, therefore whole-some foods are highly recommended for the health of an individual. Freedman mentions many prominent authors who wrote books on food processing, but the most influential voice in the food culture Freedman makes a point of is, American journalist, Michael Pollan. The media and Michael Pollan indicate that everything should be replaced with real, fresh, and unprocessed foods, instead of engineering in as much sugar, salt, and fat as possible into industrialized foods.
