The American Diet

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Most Americans do not care enough to take a look at the nutritional values of the food that he or she is consuming. That is why America has the highest percentage of obesity in the world. This is a serious problem because one in every three adults is obese, and one in every six children is obese. There are many factors that go into the regular American diet, but most of those factors are not appealing nor is it healthy. Americans put way too much processed food into their daily diet. Some would say that other countries diets superior the American diet because of nutritional values that it carries. Other countries have proven that an active lifestyle is a huge element in the average weight of the country. There are many things that Americans could change about their diets and lifestyle that would help them to become healthier. An abundance of Americans have no idea that most of the food that they consume are either processed or altered in one way or another. “Almost all beef cattle entering feedlots in the United States are given hormone implants to promote faster growth. The first product used for this purpose is­ DES (diethylstilbestrol) it­ was approved for use in beef cattle in 1954. An estimated two-thirds of the nation's beef cattle were treated with DES in 1956. (Swan, Liu, Overstreet, Brazil, and Skakkebaek)” Many people enjoy the various meats that comes from a cow, but that would probably change if the consumers knew that cattle is one of the most processed meat source in the market today because of the synthetic hormones that the cows are given. “ The three synthetic hormones are the estrogen compound zeranol, the androgen trenbolone acetate, and progestin melengestrol acetate. (Swan, Liu, Overstreet, B... ... middle of paper ... ...e corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec 2013. Choi, Younju, Jiyung Kim, Haeng-Shin Lee, Cho-il Kim, Kyeong-Hwang In, Hye-Kyung Park, and Chang-Hwan Oh. "Selenium content in representative Korean foods." Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 22.2 (2009): 117-122. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. Daniels, Tom. "Smart Growth: A New American Approach to Regional Planning." Planning Practice & Research. 16.3-4 (2001): 271-279. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. Kim, Soowon, Soojae Moon, and Berry Popkin. " The nutrition transition in South Korea." American Society for Clinical Nutrition. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec 2013. Swan, S.H., F. Liu, J.W. Overstreet, C. Brazil, and N.E. Skakkebaek. "Growth Hormones Fed to Beef Cattle Damage Human Health." Organic Consumers Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec 2013.

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