The state of the American Health in the U.S has become an increasing concern of many Americans. An article entitled “11 Facts about American Eating Habits,” addresses the state of food in the U.S by stating, “Healthiness of the food we eat decreases by 1.7 percent for every hour that passes in the day.” Experts and scientists in the U.S has raised questions about regarding the different ways food is now being produced. While individuals are usually not aware of the ingredients that food contains, many people continue to have unhealthy eating habits. In the past few decades, food production has included numerous artificial ingredients that are said to be the cause of various health problems. Various artificial ingredients that are commonly placed in the American diet include hormones and steroids. Major problems faced by the modern food industry includes food contamination, hormonal imbalance and obesity. Although there are many negative aspects of the American Diet, there are ways to reduce the problems that occur within the diet.
A lot of people are unaware of the ingredients that food contains and resulting from that, there are various problems that occur within Americans. With all the processed foods that tie in with the American diet, fast foods and preservatives seem to be very popular. According to author Christine Buck, it has been stated that processed foods are composed of salt, fat and sugar, which causes the human body to be more addictive towards the substance (KPLR11). The salt, fat and sugar all play a different role when it comes to the production of food. While the salt makes the sugar taste sweeter, the fat is the one that provides twice the flavor of sugar and gives the food more taste. Companies are aware of th...
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...t typically aware of the minor changes that could have a great impact upon one’s health, and without proper knowledge of how certain foods can alter the brain and body, one’s choices could have either a negative or positive impact.
Works Cited
"11 Facts About American Eating Habits." Do Something NPR, 7 Apr. 2011. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
Bulk, Christine. "The Doctor Is In: Avoid Salt, Sugar And Fat." Kplr11com. HealthDaily, 18 Nov. 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.
"The Healthy Farmland Diet." Union of Concerned Scientists. N.p, 6 May 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.
Norton, Amy. "Childhood Obesity Again Tied to Earlier Puberty in Girls." MSN Healthy Living, 3 Aug. 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.
Roethel, Katheryn. "Traits of 'organic' Foods Often Misconstrued." SFGate.N.p, 17 Mar. 2010. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.
"The Science and Value of Organic." PR Newswire.N.p, 10 Mar. 2012. Web. 04 Dec.
2013.
In recent studies, it was discovered that most of the foods that Americans consumed are foods which had gone through so many processes and thereby losing most of its nutritional values. Unhealthy nutrients are also been added to foods as additive during production to either preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance. An individual cannot simply trust what he or she is consuming at a fast food restaurant or even a cheap prepared meal at a grocery store. Processed food or western diet needs to be replaced and totally taken out of the American life and diet; this will help the Americans to live a healthier life, and spend less on medical bills.
Pulitzer Prize winning author, Michael Moss, talked about how food industries are spending trillions of dollars on processed food which essentially caused an increase of obesity over the past couple centuries. His #1 New York best-selling investigative report, Salt, Sugar, Fat, discusses a time when he visited the Kellogg’s company headquartered at Battle Creek, Michigan. After talking to representatives from this company about their food and how there is so much salt in their branded products. The company invited Moss to test their food products that did not incorporate any salt in the ingredients and as expected, the taste was bland. From this taste test, the company showed Moss why salt was so important in their products. Salt gives
When it comes to the topic of nutrition and eating habits, most of us will readily agree with Pollan in the instance that we as Americans are perhaps the worst offenders. To be honest, it’s quite hard to disagree with him here. Whether stereotypical or not, staples of the Western diet emit a worldwide assumption that we are a burger-eating, soda-drinking, donut-devouring nation; all unhealthy foods might I add. Is this the case for everyone? Of course not, but that’s one of the ways citizens of the United States are negatively perceived.
Eating is an instinctual habit; however, what we decide to put in our body is a choice that will affect our way of living. In “The American Paradox,” Michael Pollan, a professor of journalism at University of California, Berkeley, disapproves of the way Americans have been eating. The term “American paradox” describes the inverse correlation where we spend more of our time on nutrition, but it would only lead to our overall health deteriorating. According to Pollan, our way of eating that had been governed with culture, or our mother, was changed by the entities of food marketers and scientists, who set up nutritional guidelines that changed the way we think about food. Nutritional advice is inaccurate as it is never proven, and it is not beneficial
Americans should eliminate their regular consumption of animal products and processed foods. This type of diet leads to preventable and expensive health issues such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and even death. Most Americans don’t realize that the majority of the food being advertised to them is literal garbage that’s infusing their bodies with toxins on a daily basis. As Americans, we take pride and joy in our food, given the fact that it’s so darn tasty. We find comfort in eating a cheeseburger with French fries and slurping down a 44-ounce cola. However, what we eat has a far more detrimental effect on our health than most of us are aware of. To some, making the switch to a raw food diet might seem to be taking a drastic measure.
As Americans influenced so much by pop culture, convenience, and the latest trends in society, we either pay too little attention to the foods we consume or obsess too much about every little thing that goes into our bodies. This often leads to our detriment as we drift farther and farther away from our cultural identities and lose pleasure in eating. In the novel, In Defense of Food, Michal Pollan criticizes this aspect of American culture, revealing fallacy after fallacy of the dietary ideas consumers, journalists, the government, and even scientists believe in and promote. The main idea is that Americans have been focusing too much energy nitpicking at an activity that is designed to come to humans as common sense, resulting in the opposite of what we desire: a growing epidemic where Americans have become “fatter, sicker, and more poorly nourished.”
...brain and malnutrition. Therefore, one’s diet is not only crucial for the physical well being but also their mental.
In the United States, Food is one of the basic needs of life.We tend to spend tons of money every year to buy food. Consuming food reflects America’s culture in the United States. In America, Fast food is a way to enjoy delicious food made with sugar, fat and salt. It’s impossible to back away from eating good tasting food. Unfortunately, this is leading to major destruction. In the human life, food procurement, preparation, and consumption have devoted to an art form.Spite the terms of “America has a food problem,” it shows that our nation is unable to produce and supply safe, nutritious food in a way where it sustains our global population. Health Issues are a result of over consumption, which lead to portion sizes, and food production.
Not only are today’s families far less active, but easy access to rich-tasting, cheap food can be addictive. The fast food industry knows this and uses this information to make foods which make the brain crave more. In his book Salt Sugar Fat, author Michael Moss discussed this in an interview with food scientist Steve Witherly.
Since our health is controlled by our diet, we highly need to consider the type of food we consume. Most of us shop for food that is tasty, but not necessarily healthy. Most our food today has a large amount of fat, salt, and other ingredients that can be unhealthy.
Americans are eating too much cheese, sugar, starch, and red meat. Their most popular meals are pizza, burritos, nachos, quesadilas, and pasta which sounds healthy but as they develop, they are not as healthy as they were before with all the ‘extra ingredients’ they put in. Americans are taking in way too many calories per day if that’s what they eat, which suggest that they are definitely overheating. (Filipovic) Americans are taking approximately twice the amount of salt needed, around 70 pounds of sugar per year, and 11 percent of calories from saturated fats which can cause heart disease.(Berger) Besides that, they are not eating enough fruit and vegetables to balance the meal. (Filipovic) Americans eat 632 pounds of dairy, 31.4 pounds of that is cheese. 415.4 pounds of vegetables, most of it is potatoes and corn, and 29 pounds of that is french fries. They eat 273 fruits which usually means apples o...
Jacyln Maurer Abbot, Carol Byrd-Bredbenner. "The Sate of the American Diet." Enhancing Nurtrition in Consumption in the American Diet (2007): 32.
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.
"Organic Food." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 8 June 2007. Web. 18 May 2011. .
Food has been a common source of necessity in our everyday lives as humans. It helps gives us nutrition and energy to live throughout our life. Over several decades, the development of making foods has evolved. They have changed from natural to processed foods in recent years. Nowadays natural ingredients are barely used in the making of foods like bread, cheese, or yogurt. The food industry today has replaced natural food making with inorganic ingredients. The cause of this switch is due to processed foods being easier, cheaper and faster to make. Artificial nutrition and processed foods have been proven to last longer in market shelves then natural foods. Also, due to artificial additives in processed foods they help satisfy consumers taste more than natural ingredients. The method of producing processed foods is common in today's food industry and helps make money faster and efficiently for companies. Examples of this can be found in all markets that distribute food. Even though processed foods may be easier and faster to make, they are nowhere near as healthy for consumers compared to natural foods. Natural foods are healthier, wholesome, and beneficial to the human body and planet then processed foods.