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Importance of nutrition
Summary of the essay of western diet
Importance of nutrition
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Michael Pollan, an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism (Michael Pollan), writes in his book In Defense of Food, the dangers of nutritionism and how to escape the Western diet and subsequently most of the chronic diseases the diet imparts. In the chapter “Nutritionism Defined” Pollan defines the term nutritionism. Pollan’s main assertion being how the ideology of nutritionism defines food as the sum of its nutrients, and from this viewpoint Pollan goes on to write how nutritionism divides food into two categories, with each macronutrient divided against each other as either bad or good nutrients, in a bid for focus of our food fears and enthusiasms. Finally, Pollan concludes that with the relentless focus nutritionism places on nutrients and their interplay distinctions between foods become irrelevant and abandoned. Pollan writes that the term was originally coined by Gyorgy Scrinis, an Australian sociologist of science, in his 2002 essay titled “Sorry Marge”. Pollan writes how Scrinis uses the debates be...
Michael pollan is an American journalist, author and activist, and he is currently working as a professor of Journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate school of Journalism. He completed his B.A. in English from Bennington in 1977 and an M.A. in English from Colombia in 1981. Michael pollen is author of many food and eating related books For Example, The omnivore’s dilemma, A natural history of four meals, Food rules, In defense of food and many others. In 2010, Michael pollan was named one of the top magazines top 100 most influential people. As we know obesity is common in Unites States and its rate is increasing day by day, this is the reason pollan made this argument to make people aware regarding this issue that what are the causes of obesity and many other
Escape from the Western Diet describes Pollan’s primary occupation as an author of food and eating books, not a food scientist, however, Pollan bases his entire article off of his opinion of how Americans should eat (Pollan, 420). Pollan 's rules, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants,” might serve as a fine setup for a fad diet, but these rules don’t necessarily provide a reasonable solution for America’s obesity problem. The rules don’t provide a solution because they are too vague; you can’t solve a nationwide issue using a system that fails to acknowledge any other factors besides what Americans should supposedly eat. Logical fallacies pop up throughout Escape from the Western Diet and stunt its credibility, such examples being the False Dichotomy, Begging the Question, and the Hasty Generalization. In Pollan’s quote, “people eating a Western diet are prone to a complex of chronic diseases that seldom strike people eating more traditional diets” (Pollan, 421), the Hasty Generalization fallacy is apparent, as not every person who eats a Western diet is prone to chronic diseases. The quote, “the healthcare industry...stands to profit more handsomely from new drugs and procedures to treat chronic diseases than it does from a wholesale change in the way people eat” (Pollan, 422) is a prime example of the Begging the Question fallacy, as this
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.
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.
Nutrition and health have become more popular in today 's society. Our generation is becoming more and more indebted to the idea of being healthy and eating nutritious meals. However, in “The American Paradox,” by Michael Pollan he argues that our unhealthy population is preoccupied with nutrition and the idea of eating healthy than their actual health. He also mentions the food industry, nutrition science and how culture affects the way we eat and make food choices. While Pollan is right about all these factor that affect our eating habits, there is more to it than that. Convenience, affordability and social influence also affects our food choices making them inadequate.
Pollan believes that Americans rely on nutrition science, the study of individual nutrients like carbohydrates, fats, and antioxidants, to fix the Western diet because it is the best source that exists. However, scientists have developed conflicting theories that confuse people to conclude as to how the Western diet causes disease, such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Pollan disagrees with any type theory and instead blames the food and health industries who take advantage of new theories but do not to fix the problem of the Western diet. In turn, not only does he suggest people spending more time and money on better food choices, but he also proposes many tips to eat better, as well as a rule that will allow Americans climb out of the Western diet: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants (Pollan,
Wardlaw, G.M. and Smith. Contemporary Nutrition: Issues and Insights. 5th Edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill, pp 85, 2004.
Nutritionism is an ideology that believes that the nutrients in foods are the key to understanding them. Nutritionism believers are so focused on the nutrients that food contains that they forget about all other aspects of food. The problem is that consumers rely on packaging to tell them what nutrients a food provides, since nutrients cannot be obviously seen, and they rely on science to tell us what nutrients are good and which are “evil”.
On Monday, the students had a test on Chapter 7: Nutrition for Life. Mr. Cook mentions to me that his 3rd period did not do well on the test. Mr. Cook grades the students’ test as they turn it in. After he finished grading the test he asks the students did they study. Mr. Cook said that he does not understand why the students why the students did not do well because they had four extra days to study and the test was just like the study guide. Mr. Cook even shows me the test and the study guide. The test and study guide were exactly the same, he just changed the letter of the answer choices. Mr. Cook had to curve the test grades because he had students making 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s. In some of his other class periods, the class averages for the chapter 7 test are 71%, 68%, 72%, and 81%
2. Orogastric: This route is used when NG is contraindicated, and to prevent sinusitis. It is tolerated well by the sedated patients but not in awake patients.
For over a century, the government has been give us nutrition advice, telling us what we should or shouldn’t eat to stay healthy. Marion Nestles argument in her book, Food Politics, shows a corruption in the relationship between the government, principally the USDA through its dietary recommendations, the US Farm bill, and the food industry. The problem, says Marion Nestle, is that our diets are a political issue, because dietary advice affects food sales. Accordingly, corporate food companies use their relationships with people in the government, and science to push their product as a healthy choice. In other words, when it comes to consumption of food, strategic decisions are driven by economics; science, common sense, and health have very little to do with it. This explains why the food pyramid/plate has changed a number of times over the past century. It’s been influenced by the corporate food companies to drive sales. An example of this is given in chapter two of Food Politics, where the recently appointed Secretary of the U.S Department of Agriculture blocked the printing of the department’s latest food guide—the eating right pyramid. The reason for this was that the pyramid advised a dietary pattern in which people should eat more grains, fruits and vegetables, with a reduction in dairy and meat products, and even less consumption of foods high in fat and sugar. Accordingly, it’s no surprise that companies in the meat and dairy industry used their influence to prevent such a food guide from coming out. As you can see, there is a correlation between dietary advice and sales in the food industry, and therefore, corruption is inevitable.
Nutritional anthropology applies the anthropological approach to nutritional disciplines by studying and understanding how the interactions of social and biological factors affect the nutritional status of individuals and populations. Dettwlyer conducted a medical anthropological research assessing the nutritional status of individuals living in a population in Mali, Africa. She defined it as to be a biocultural approach because the research did not only pertain to the biological system of the people but cultural dogmas, infant feeding practices, socio-economic status, political-ecological factors also contributed as much. Death rates and child malnutrition rates are very high in Mali, it being one of the poorest countries of the world. Therefore, Dettwlyer being a nutritional anthropologist extends her study to the children of Mali who are malnutritioned as a result of their birth in poor families; because their mothers have a low status in their prosperous extended family households; ethno-cultural tenets, etc.
Holistic nutrition is increasingly becoming popular in healthcare practice due to the growing detoxification culture amongst the people with the aim of improving individual health. Consumption of toxic elements toxifies the body, the consumption of processed food products is the primary cause of diseases amongst the people. There is increased use of Holistic Nutrition by both healthy people and people with health conditions with the aim of achieving optimum body function and health. The increased use of holistic nutrition in the community improves health outcomes and reduces poor health outcomes that are caused by poor lifestyle choices of using processed food products. Holistic nutrition provides a natural approach of ensuring positive health
I chose to have the same meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner for three days, not in a row, of course. So day one, two and three will look the same; it is roughly what I consume on a regular basis, I really didn’t have to alter my meals much at all, only to make sure I had the same meals each day.
Proper nutrition is one of the most essential elements to being healthy and living a long life. People deal with food every day, and food has been a part of life since the beginning of civilization. What we eat becomes our diet, and our diet plays a major role in deciding how healthy we are and how well our body functions. Without proper diet, our body cannot carry out the functions it needs to perform. Most people have some common knowledge on what is good and what is bad for the human body to consume. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains are some common items people think of when they think of healthy foods. However, it is not enough just to know what foods are good for your body, it is also important to understand why certain foods are good for you and what they do to help the body function.