Paranoia about Fats is Driven by Junk Science In the article “Paranoia about Fats is Driven by Junk Science” by Jill Richardson discusses the idea of how many Americans’ have false beliefs on the consumption of fats. Many think fats are bad and unhealthy for our diets, when in reality; we need them to maintain a healthy diet. For me and just like many others, I had the wrong impression on fats. Since many products today contain the label fat-free, I always believed that this was bad for diets. Since reading this article, it helped me take into account that eating omega-3 and omega-6; such as fish, greens, seeds, and oils are part of a well-balanced diet. This can be related to chapter 3, as omega-3 fatty acids are essential in preventing
Christa Kurkjian explains in her paper, Is “Fat” the New “F” Word?, that Carver transforms the social norm of being fat—and ugly—to something of a “saving grace” (Kurkjian 3). However, I have to disagree with Kurkjian on her thesis. I truly do not feel Carver’s intent for Fat is to transform the word “fat,” but to elaborate on how people perceive fat.
“Fat Acceptance”: An Argument Lacking Validity Cynara Geisslers’ essay “Fat Acceptance: A Basic Primer,” was published in Geez Magazine in 2010. The focus of the essay is to refute the pressure of society to be thin and promote self-acceptance regardless of size. While this essay touches on many agreeable points, it tends to blow many ideas out of context in an attempt to create a stronger argument. The article takes on a one-sided argument without any appropriate acknowledgement of the opposition, overlooks the risks of ignoring personal health, and has a strong feminist ideology associated towards the essay which tends to make the validity of her argument questionable.
For some time, scholars and writers have continuously debated as to what constitutes or defines the idea of healthy eating, mainly because of the increase in the number of people diagnosed with ailments associated with bad eating habits. It has quickly become the forefront of issue, particularly in the United States. In recognition of this on-going debate, this composition seeks to compare and contrast two well-known authors concerning how we think about and consume food. In Michael Pollan’s discussion, “Escape from the Western Diet,” he discusses the negative sides of nutrition science, including conflicting theories surrounding the elements of healthy food consumption and why solutions are essential for the Western diet and lifestyle. “Escape from the Western Diet,’’ is among the articles that talks about the eating habits of individuals in the society. In the article, Pollan points out not only the numerous conflicts concerning what types of diets – including carbohydrate-based, the inclusion of omega-3s, other nutrition-specific needs - that are believed to directly affect general health or specific illnesses, but also how western nutritionism compares to other countries diets affect longevity outcomes. In the end, Pollan suggests that the United States must seek solutions that move towards more natural, unprocessed, plant-based lifestyles that ensure that individuals are making what they consume a primary
Published In his article “How Junk Food Can End Obesity”, David Freedman begins by talking about how misinformed people are about wholefood restaurants and stores. These stores are run by so-called health food experts. Freedman makes himself distinguishable himself from the position of Michael Pollan and his adherents. His adherents are known as Pollanites. They are the people who believe that processed food is the reason we have health and obesity issues. He brings up the phrase small elite minority to talk about how Pollanites think they are better than everyone else. Throughout the article Freedman compares how the Pollanites view the masses, to how everyone else views it. The way to fix the problem according to Pollan and his followers
One of the most important parts of any persuasive essay is the counterclaim. This is where the author states the opposing side’s opinion, and then states why their opinions are wrong. In the article “The Skinny on Low-Fat Diets”, the author talks about the why some people continue to follow the low-fat diet, and why they think it works. It is not only important that the author includes this in his article, but it is mandatory. The counterclaim is what really pushes the article that extra mile to persuade the reader.
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
In the article “Unhappy Meals,” Michael Pollan gives an ordinary person an overview of what food really is. Pollan starts out by saying, “If you’re concerned about your health, you should probably avoid food products that make health claims.” I feel like Americans today go out of their way to find foods that make health claims, because they truly believe what the food distributors are marketing. So many people trust everything that health food distributors say and don’t take time to actually read the labels and understand nutritional facts. Pollan, throughout the whole article, points out that almost everything we eat is nutrient enhanced food. He said that he believes that the food people are eating now days are worse for you than past generations.
The article “The Skinny on Low-fat Diets” by Alan Ling is about the drawbacks of low-fat diets. The author talks about how low-fat diets don’t necessarily work and uses facts to strengthen her claim. One of the ways the author strengthen their claim is by showing the other side of the argument. The author includes this information to strengthen her claim and show readers that they can defend their argument from others.
The sole purpose of a company is to offer goods and services while making a profit. If people have a liking for food products with so many unhealthy items and are willing to buy them, the companies have no obligation to reduce the amount of added ingredients. The companies aren’t the ones forcing the public to overeat. However, these companies shouldn’t market their products to people who they can easily exploit like children and those who are penurious. Michael Moss, author of the article “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food” interviews several people who worked for certain big brand companies and gives us an abundant amount of information on how the food companies make and market their food to “get us hooked”.
It’s no secret that the U.S. is encouraging people to pursue healthier lifestyles in order to combat the obesity epidemic. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration have recently joined the fight against obesity by advocating for the elimination of Trans fats from the American food supply (Tavernise, 2013). Not to mention the policy initiates that have been created in order to help combat childhood obesity (the Let’s Move policy initiative). Simply put, the nation’s p...
When we think of our national health we wonder why Americans end up obese, heart disease filled, and diabetic. Michael Pollan’s “ Escape from the Western Diet” suggest that everything we eat has been processed some food to the point where most of could not tell what went into what we ate. Pollan thinks that if America thought more about our “Western diets” of constantly modified foods and begin to shift away from it to a more home grown of mostly plant based diet it could create a more pleasing eating culture. He calls for us to “Eat food, Not too much, Mostly plants.” However, Mary Maxfield’s “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating”, argues differently she has the point of view that people simply eat in the wrong amounts. She recommends for others to “Trust yourself. Trust your body. Meet your needs.” The skewed perception of eating will cause you all kinds of health issues, while not eating at all and going skinny will mean that you will remain healthy rather than be anorexic. Then, as Maxfield points out, “We hear go out and Cram your face with Twinkies!”(Maxfield 446) when all that was said was eating as much as you need.
The last twinkie; the main goal of supporting character Tallahassee in the 2009 hit movie Zombieland. The ravaged zombies, and scrappy girls are nothing in comparison to his hopes of the cream filled pastry. This skewered perception demonstrates the change in society’s priorities and composition. Since then, fast food and junk food industries have pounced on this new environment gaining a massive influence on the consumption and health of many Americans. Michael Moss’s, The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food, and David Zinczenko’s, Don’t Blame the Eater are two articles which create a major dialogue in regards to the manipulation of food industries on their consumers. Both authors take different initial and end approaches, but they
Since more people are becoming conscious of how nutrition affects health, they have come to rely on nutrition information to help them make healthier food decisions. Some sources of nutrition inforamtion that people may encounter are the inernet, product labels, friends and family. People receive most of their nutrition information from media sources like television, magazines, newspapers and books. After reading the article about food and nutrition misinformation I think there is a lot of nutrition misinformation because a lot of sources dont have complete nutrition information. Most people use the internet to get information and the internet deosnt always give accurate information to readers. Another reason for nutrition misinformation is
Food science has also done some damage to people’s diets by replacing fresh food in our supermarkets to aisles of boxed and frozen food that lack nutrients in them This problem was noticed in 1977 when a document called Dietary Goals for the United States was created after rates of coronary heart disease had soared in America since World War II. In 1977, the lipid hypothesis, it proposes that dietary or saturated fat causes heart disease by raising the concentration of cholesterol in the blood. Government has been changing the Dietary Guidelines for the United States quite often which proves not even scientists know everything about nutrition. Nutritionism has led to the creation of processed foods which has been
How many people do you think these days eat junk food? Fast food is the food that is made fast and quickly. Everyone knows that food is the fuel for our body, it gives us the energy we need to start our mornings. But now a day people are eating fast food more than healthy and organic food. People are not aware of the bad effects of fast food on their bodies junk food is affecting the body negatively. Fast food has a lot of bad effects on the human’s body that we should all be aware of. Extra calories, affecting the brain negatively and Obesity.