Concerns in the Western Diet

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The western diet exists as a way of life for most Americans. The typical western diet is full of chemicals and unknown ingredients. Today it is not viewed as the most beneficial diet for humans to consume. Those who live on the western diet are exploding with health concerns. Some major health problems range from type two diabetes, high cholesterol, to being overweight. These health concerns are growing. Today, foods have many unknown ingredients and just really are not food. Michael Pollan discusses these issues in his book titled In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. Pollans’ goal from this book is to inform people, mainly the eaters of the western diet, what this diet is and what it contains. He furthers his argument on defying the food we eat in Part three, Chapter two “Eat Food: Food Defined”. Pollan, in this chapter, breaks down the foods we buy then eat, and how we should choose what to eat to better health and life. The problem is that everyone thinks they are eating real food. Pollan defines what the foods really are while also giving advice on what one really should be digesting.
The western diet is not doing many people much good. Pollan discusses that the western diet focuses heavily on nutrition. That’s good, right? However that is wrong, especially when food companies are supposedly adding editable chemicals to make foods healthier. These additives are one contributor to giving the western diet its bad name. There are so many health problems with the western diet that Pollan specifies. Throughout the book, Pollan breaks down in sections and declares what foods are made of and how it is affecting everyone. Food really is not food; it is just chemical substances that are fed to everyone to eat in...

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...ay we eat and prepare the food is not going to change anytime soon. As everyone keeps demanding the unhealthy foods, the food industry is just going to keep on making the same chemical filled foods to fill everyone’s stomach. Everyone needs to remember nutrient is good but having the wrong kinds of nutrients does not help matter. There are other food products out there that would make the diet better, and organic. Even if people start switching over to actual healthier foods the problem isn’t going to disappear. Chemicals will keep on being added to the foods and people are going to keep buying. People need to stop buying foods like in a candy shop and read the labels to know what is actually in the food they are eating.

Works Cited

Pollan, Michael. "Eat Food: Food Defined." In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. New York: Penguin, 2008. 147-61. Print.

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