...typical American diet, the American Journal of Preventive Medicine infers that by 2030, 42 percent of Americans will be obese and 11 percent will be critically obese or 100 pounds above the healthful weight (Marlow). With increasing numbers on obesity and diet related health problems, many citizens have called for the regulation of the American diet (Marlow). Reducing Americans’ excessive sodium consumption requires establishing new federal standards for the amount of salt that food manufacturers, restaurants, and food service companies put in their products (National Academy of Sciences). Public-health advocates attending a conference backed by representatives in the pharmaceutical industry, says that the government should classify...
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...Is Our Food Killing Us? Is Our Food Killing Us? is an investigation into the processed food products that make up the modern American diet and the affects these products are having on our health and well-being. Also, in many cases we are well aware of the health risks of diets rich in certain foods. Fast foods, heavily processed food-like products and convenience foods have been proven to cause obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancers. Even food products that claim to be “fat free” or “diet” contain artificial ingredients that can cause health problems such as migraine headaches. Our food may very well be killing us and yet we, as a nation, are not changing our eating habits. The intention was to find out why we choose to continue on the unhealthy paths that we are on. Information found in many articles and documentaries, including doctors’ and scientists’ statements, as well as nutritional information found on nearly every food label in the grocery store, explained what was in the foods we are eating, what it does to our bodies and what were our reasons for not making healthier choices. Factors such as food addiction, convenience, commercialism, false claims and income are some examples of why we may continue to eat poorly. This paper will examine all of these topics and some others. Maybe the information that will be revealed here will be just what you need to modify your own diets and begin a road to a healthier body! Table...
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...Negative Effects of Processed Foods Food is one of life’s main essentials to sustain viability. The ongoing growth, maintenance and repair of the body depends deeply on the energy and nutrients supplied to the body through foods. The nutrients that food delivers to the human body is an amazingly, dynamic process that keeps people alive and well. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over 25 million people in America have diabetes; 215,000 of those are children and over 69 percent of all Americans are overweight and obese. This includes childhood obesity, which has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. There is also the deadly threat of food intolerances, which according to the CDC, has increased approximately 50 percent between 1997 and 2011. That means 1 in every 13 children under the age of 18 have a food allergy, according to statistics. These diseases cause many complications and are responsible for a reduced quality of life. These startling statistics reveal that Americans, especially children, are not getting the proper nutrients their body needs. America has taken technological innovations in food production to the next level and has an abundant food supply. So why are so many Americans sick with food related diseases? Taking a closer look at America’s diet holds the answer. A typical American diet consists of 70 percent processed foods. This includes packaged foods, fast foods, and foods that could not be...
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...English 1101 Food, Fun and Friends in France and the Southern United States of America Red wine, sweet tea, ice cold beer, chilled champagne, soft drinks, croissants, barbeque, fried chicken, bleu cheese, American processed cheese…all of these are symbols of good eating and drinking. Furthermore, these symbols are commonly enjoyed by two diverse and unique cultures; the French and the southerners of the United States of America. What underlying factors link these two diverse and unique cultures together? It is a common assumption that the French culture enjoys extremely rich and fattening foods, along with the fact that the French are obsessed with having a good time. It is just as well known that Southerners also enjoy the same rich and fattening foods, and they too know how to have a good time eating and drinking. Research has shown similarities and differences in immigration, social interaction and diet habits between the two cultures. The United States of America is known as a huge ‘melting pot’. America is made up of many nationalities and the southern region represents that same multi-cultural picture. “The population of the Southern United States is made up of many different people who came to the region in a variety of ways, each contributing to what is now called ‘Southern cooking’(Food In Every Country).” The various cultures included American Indians, Spanish explorers, West Africans, Creoles, and Cajuns. Each diverse group introduced foods, spices, and...
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...current nutritional guidelines were created to help Americans balance physical activity along with amount of calorie intake in order to maintain a healthy weight, consume more of specific types of foods high in nutritional value and consume less of the foods high in sodium, saturated fat, trans fat, refined grains, cholesterol and added sugars. The most current version of the USDA guidelines produced in 2010 was generated during a time of high concern for the American population’s overall health. The epidemic of overweight and obese people that this generation is seeing is due to two factors alone; poor diet and inactivity. Even when looking past the obvious high number of obese people in our country poor diet and...
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...STARVE Any diet plan that expects you to ignore your feelings of hunger will never work for long. Appetite is a critical survival mechanism regulated by your brain and digestive system. It is your body’s way of letting you know you need fuel for energy. When you go on extremely low calorie diets, such as the grapefruit diet or cabbage soup diet, or try one of those celebrity-endorsed portion-control diet plans with expensive prepared meals, you trigger a metabolic reaction that ends up making you fatter once you go back to normal eating habits. Here’s why… When you reduce your daily caloric intake below the level needed for daily energy for even a short period of time, you will lose weight. BUT your metabolism will respond as if you are starving and start storing fat very efficiently. Now you can’t stay on a starvation diet for very long. Eventually you return to normal eating habits – perhaps even eating less than you did before. But your metabolism is still storing fat at the starvation level. Not only will you quickly gain back what you lost, you will almost certainly pack on even more pounds than when you started. Remember – hunger is not your enemy. You should eat when you’re hungry. It’s just a question of how you satisfy your hunger. If you are overweight, it is probably not because you eat too much. It’s really all about the kind of foods you eat. Stop starving and stop counting calories! Simply stick with low carbohydrate and reduced fat foods and watch the...
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...High Glycemic Foods: Affects on Obesity & Disease Are high glycemic diets a cause of obesity and disease in America today? Obesity and chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease are at an all time high in the United States; studies link a high glycemic diet with obesity and chronic disease. The Worldwide Health Organization (WHO) reports that there are more than 1 billion overweight adults globally” (WHO, 2010). According to a 2005-2006 CDC study of the United States population, 34% of adults are obese. In addition, the International Diabetes Federation announced in 2006 that diabetes is becoming the epidemic of the 21st century with 246 million people affected worldwide (Lefebvre, 2006). Diabetes currently affects 23.5 million adults and 2 million adolescents in the United States with 1.6 million new cases diagnosed each year (American Diabetes Association, 2007). The WHO also reports that heart disease is the top cause of death in the world and in high-income countries like the United States (WHO, 2004). In 2006 the American Heart Association estimated that 81,100,000 million people in the United States have some form of Heart Disease (American Heart Association, 2006). Despite the fact that high glycemic foods do not affect all people the same way, high glycemic diets are killing Americans because they increase the risk of obesity and disease. High glycemic diets are prevalent in America today. Due to the rise of coronary heart disease in the 1970’s...
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...Stauffer, E., & Gittelsohn, J. (2011). Access to food source and food source use are associated with healthy and unhealthy food-purchasing behaviours among low-income African-American adults in Baltimore City. Public Health Nutrition, 14(09), 1632-1639. doi:10.1017/s1368980011000498 This article tells us that the supply of healthy food is limited in low-income urban communities. Supermarkets and corner shops are the most popular sources of food, and data suggest that corner stores are associated with more unhealthy foods. Compared with supermarkets in low-income communities, many corner stores make them a source of food available and available for many people. Interventions are needed to increase the...
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...Food Poverty in America What is causing America’s obesity epidemic? Why is it so difficult for the majority of people in the U.S.A to eat healthy diets? Compare America to almost any other country and it is painfully clear that we have an overabundance of food: Americans eat 815 billion calories of food each day and throw out 200,000 tons of it daily (“Consumption”). However, it is commonly thought that people should have the self-control and knowledge necessary to winnow through the plenty and make good choices. Nutritional facts are readily available and no one could possibly think fast-food is good for them, could they? And yet, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that 34.9% of all Americans are clinically obese and that...
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...Introduction The number of American people who are obese has increased over the years. This complex condition has affected almost all ages with children obesity being on the rise. Obesity can be linked to the onset of some diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and some heart diseases that have increased the risk of death and reduction of an individual’s health. The answers that we seek are concerned with sugars’ role in the development of obesity and the emergence of related diseases. It is important to consider an individual’s genes when determining vulnerability to obesity but what doctors mostly emphasize is on food intake. As the socioeconomic levels of most Americans rise, diets are increasingly having a higher proportion of sugars while work is shifting into a less physical nature. The high proportion of sugars in the American diet has a direct relationship to obesity and other related illnesses. Is sugar related to obesity and medical disorders associated in the American society? In order to become fully aware of the link between sugars and diabetes, we have to look at the features and nature of sugar. Sugar is a generalized name for a crystalline carbohydrate that is simple, edible and has a sweet flavor. The main types of sugar are sucrose, lactose, fructose and glucose. Glucose, also referred to as blood sugar is the one that circulates in the blood. Table sugar and fruits contain sucrose and fructose respectively. During the process of digestion, carbohydrates...
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...unable to follow a low sodium diet for this exercise because I suffer from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, and was instructed by my cardiologist to increase salt intake in order to raise my blood pressure. I also do not know anyone who has to be on a special diet, because all of my family members and friends are healthy and I do not really know anyone who has to be on any dietary restrictions. In order to complete this exercise I did a research on low sodium diet and what effects it has on a human body. Sodium is a mineral which is necessary in order to keep normal fluid balance in our body (Cleveland Clinic). Low sodium diet is considered to be a maximum 2g of salt intake per day. I imagine, as with any other diet, it is hard to follow any strict diet that limits us to take certain amount of anything. For those who are instructed to be on a low sodium diet, it must be very difficult to figure out how much salt is in certain foods. This is especially hard to figure out in processed foods. Even though they are labeled, we discussed serving sizes at the beginning of the semester and how manufacturers can be misleading, so people have a hard time figuring out how many serving of food they are actually eating. In order to stay on this diet people should avoid certain foods which are high in sodium, and the mail source of sodium is table salt that we use in everyday cooking. According to UCSF Medical Center (2014),” The average American eats five or more teaspoons of...
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...FOODS YOU SHOULD NEVER EAT Foods that Make You Fat and Destroy Your Health Page | 1 Copyright ©2010 Eat Healthy Secrets ISBN XXXXXXXX All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author. Printed in the United States of America Page | 2 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................5 THE DANGER OF PROCESSED FOODS ......................................................................8 REFINED SUGAR IS POISON ......................................................................................12 THE TRUTH ABOUT FAT .............................................................................................27 WHY YOU SHOULD AVOID HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP ..................................32 WATCH OUT FOR ASPARTAME .................................................................................40 AVOID MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE ..........................................................................55 OTHER FOOD ADDITIVES YOU SHOULD AVOID ......................................................62 THE PROBLEM WITH BREAKFAST CEREALS ..........................................................73 THE PROBLEM WITH DIET SODAS ......................................................................
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...Mediterranean Diet The Mediterranean diet is based on the eating habits of people who live near the Mediterranean Sea. The diet is constructed around a very high intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes; a moderate consumption of fish, shellfish, poultry, eggs, dairy and olive oil; and a very limited consumption of red meat, processed foods, sugary foods and saturated fats. Adequate consumption of water is necessary and wine can be consumed in moderation (Del Chierico, Vernocchi, Dallapiccola, Putignani). In recent years there has been significant scientific evidence suggesting that closely following the Mediterranean diet provides adequate nutrient intake and can help decrease the risk of non-communicable, chronic disease for which multiple factors including diet and lifestyle can be attributed (Egger). In order to decrease the risk for cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, some cancers, increase overall well-being, and reduce the monetary burden of these chronic diseases, Americans should consider adopting the Mediterranean diet. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, with an estimated 610,000 people dying because of it each year. Poor diet and obesity are two of the leading risk factors associated with this disease (“Heart Disease Facts”). Because cardiovascular disease is considered a low-grade inflammatory disease, there has been great interest in the anti-inflammatory effects associated with the Mediterranean diet (Sofi...
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...what fad diet or magic weight loss pill they try, they cannot seem to find a thing that will keep weight gain at bay. What many people do not realize is that the food they put in their mouths affects not only their weight, but the way their body and mind function. With the overwhelming amount of fast food restaurants taking place in towns all over this country, unhealthy eating becomes a habit for many people when in a crunch for time. There are 240,115 fast food restaurants in America alone and only 37,716 super markets in the US; this means that for every seven fast food restaurants there is only one grocery store in our Nation. So where are citizens to turn when looking for something to eat? When the odds are seven to one, statistically you'd be more likely to choose the fast food restaurants almost every time. By increasing the amount of healthier store alternatives in the US we can give Americans accessibility to more affordable, healthier options, and the equal choices the people of America deserve. For many people across America eating healthy is a difficult thing to do, because they do not know where to start. This becomes even more difficult when they do not have a grocery store near by in order to purchase healthier alternatives. Grocery stores offer fresher fruits, vegetables, and many now offer organic meats and milk. In the article “Escape from the Western Diet” by Michael Pollan he writes of how important it is for the health of American’s to eat a diet with less...
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... By: Amber Stroh New health policies are being enacted to educate Americans about healthy eating patterns in hopes of absolving the obesity epidemic, but those at highest risk have low-income and may be unable to comply. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s research, approximately one in seven Americans in 2013 struggled with food insecurity; slightly less, at a rate of one out of ten, are households with children (Coleman-Jensen, Gregory, and Singh). At this moment there are Americans experiencing the difficulty of an unwarranted fast or eating under their caloric requirements due to a shortage of resources. The least expensive foods available tend to be high in calories, salts, sugar, and fat (Drewnowski, Specter SE). A change in mindset may be needed to direct people to more healthy food choices but their resources may not cover the costs to purchase them. Food pantries make healthy food options available which helps to lessen this health disparity. Multiple issues are being addressed as the government seeks to guide Americans to a healthier way of life (McCary). Many new health policies have already infiltrated our lives, such as new school lunch regulations, taxes on sugared beverages, and MyPlate. Shortly our nutritional food labels will be replaced. "Calories from fat" will no longer be labeled, however "added sugars" will now be required on the label (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, USDA). Both changes reflect recent breakthroughs...
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