Mintz Food And Eating Questions

Proper nutrition is important in maintaining a long and healthy life. Most Americans are rushed due to their busy work schedules, and do not take the time to plan their diets properly. Like me, most Americans are unaware of the importance of eating a healthy diet and consume too many foods without the proper nutrients. Throughout my life I have been fortunate. I have not had any major health problems, and have been able to consume most foods without having to worry about gaining weight. These last two years, however, I started to gain weight and have become concerned with my diet. Changing my poor eating habits has been difficult for me, however, having this assignment has taught me that it is not as difficult as I previously

In the essay Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating by Mary Maxfield, a graduate student in American Studies at Bowling Green State University summarizes Journalist Michael Pollan’s theory about Americans’s unhealthy population preoccupied with the idea of eating healthy.

One does not necessarily expect books about food also to be about bigger ideas like oppression, spirituality, and freedom, yet Pollan defies expectations. Pollan begins with an exploration of the food-production system from which the vast majority of American meals are derived. This industrial food chain is mainly based on corn, whether it is eaten directly, fed to livestock, or processed into chemicals such as glucose and ethanol. Pollan discusses how the humble corn plant came to dominate the American diet through a combination of biological, cultural, and political factors. The role of petroleum in the cultivation and transportation the American food supply is also discussed. A fast-food meal is used to illustrate the end result of the

Davidson, Alan. "Europeans’ Wary Encounter with Tomatoes, Potatoes and Other New World Foods." In Chilies to chocolate: food the Americas gave the world, by Nelson Foster and Linda Cordell, 1-14. Tuscon: University of Arizona Press, 1992.

The Western Diet mainly consists of fried foods, refined grains, sugar, high carbohydrate and fats, and meats (3). It has been hypothesized that having a Western Diet increases one’s chances for developing depression. There has been a great deal of research into why the western diet increase’s one chance of having depression. A common sense reason maybe that the Western Diet consisted of large amounts carbohydrates, fats and sugars which promotes obesity and then causes depression (1). More scientific evidence suggest that having a improper diet like the Western Diet negatively affects peripheral and central dopamine, which are neurotransmitters (chemical which transmit signals across the synapse from the nerve cell to the target cell)

When Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma was published, many readers began questioning him for advice on what they should eat in order to stay healthy. In his more recent book, In Defense of Food, he responds with three rules, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants"(Pollan 1). This seven word response seems too simple for a relatively complicated question, but as he further elaborates these rules into specific guidelines, this summary turns out to be surprisingly complete. Using inductive and deductive reasoning, he debunks the ideas behind nutritionism and food science, and proves that the western diet is the cause for food related diseases. Inductive reasoning is when a

One of the most unhealthy diets in the world is that of an American. It is made up of processed foods and a good amount of television. America easily has the most fast food restaurants in the entire world. Leave it to McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King or any other fast-food restaurant to serve extremely cheap and even unhealthier food at any time during the day or night. ”It tastes good so why not?” That seems to be the question many people are asking now-a-days. Because it is so easily accessible and processed, it is made to be very tasty and extremely unhealthy. Many Americans find his or herself indulging on the these fatty foods of America on a day-to-day basis. While it may taste good at the time, it has a terrible effect on your body

     Since we have been learning about nutrition in class, our task was to record a food log. Nutrition requires a well-balanced diet containing nutrient and vitamins like amino acids and fatty acids. Over the past seven days I have been recording and have been looking very carefully at my intake of nutrients, minerals, vitamins, and fats. In our task, the objective was to record the basic foods we ate during the period of seven, but it did not require recording every single detail or our intake of food. Doing this food log was a pain and it was disturbing because I never wrote about what I ate like breakfast, lunch, dinner, or additional meals. I found this food log useful because it helped me learn what I

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

It is indeed true that the quality of food that you take in will do a

At this point in the conversation, he started to go on a bit of a tangent, but he still had very interesting information to share. For example, my grandpa said that they made their own toys and were always making and doing stuff outside. Also, they didn’t have TV until about 1960 (which is when he joined the Navy). However, they did have the radio, to which he remembers that they all had their favorite radio program, and “everyone would huddle around it and we’d listen to our program.”

I love pasta! It has always been one of my favorite foods, but now that I have changed my diet in an effort to lose more weight and more importantly lower my Body Mass Index (B.M.I.), I have to be conscious of every portion that I eat. Meaning, I have to go easy on the lasagna. Don 't you just love lasagna? It is just so yummy. Ok, now back to the topic at hand. Pasta often gets a bad rap because it is a complex carbohydrate which is also known as a starch. Starches are an important source of energy for the body and the only way that the brain gets energy. Starches can also be fattening if you eat too many of them, but if you eat too much of anything and don 't burn those calories, you will gain weight. Pasta has been criticized for being a simple carbohydrate and is sometimes put into the same category as cake, pastries and white bread. Simple carbohydrates increase blood sugar which creates an excess of insulin being secreted. Excess insulin encourages weight gain. Though simple carbohydrates have a high Glycemic Index, pasta 's GI is 41 which is similar to pears and lower than many different breads. The Glycemic Index is the number that is used to measure how quickly the body 's blood sugar rises after food is eaten. According to Jennie Brand-Miller, Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Sydney and co-author of The New Glucose Revolution: The Authoritative Guide to the Glycemic Index, "A pasta meal is very healthy if it uses vegetable or tomato sauce and/or

​Food plays an important role in our daily life. Without food, we cannot survive. Food gives us all the required nutrients that our body needs in order to perform activities in our daily life. People usually find it difficult when choosing the right and effective diet for themselves. Its easy to get overwhelmed with all the dieting advice you get. Do you have to try out every type of diets without obtaining any result? Some people are unaware about how to have a proper diet and with those misleading advice, they may have to stop consuming the food they love, cutting down some portions and calories. Some people do survive this, nevertheless majority of people find it restrictive. In order to have a proper diet, the below information will give an idea about how nutrients plays a significant role in a proper diet. What helps the people to get a proper diet are the three types of diets involved, which are divided into three categories; balanced diet, diabetic diet and fitness diet.

Dieting has been a common practice for weight loss in the last few decades, truly gaining popularity in the 1980s and 1990s (). This process of consumption restriction and food regulation is still used in weight control for the obese and overweight, often in combination with a physical activity regiment. However, many of the diets promoted have been under scrutiny for being detrimental to participant’s health and moreover, the practice itself may lead to the onset of other health challenges. Despite these damning findings, the weight loss industry still uses many of these ineffective diets to treat obesity and is still regarded as a powerful resource in obesity control. It is suspected that their influence may be motivated by the industry’s extensive profitability, rather than their capacity to combat the obesity issue.

People today are threatened by all sorts of unhealthy food. Obese people today blame many things including the quality of food they eat as an excuse for their unhealthy lifestyle. While much of today’s food choices are extremely unhealthy, people are not forced to eat anything. People have the right to choose what they want to eat. Many people suffering from obesity are seeking excuses and acceptance for their size, when they should be seeking support and guidance on how to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle. They need to learn how to evaluate their own food choices and they need to learn about actions they can take to live a healthier lifestyle.