Upload
kiki-sabater
View
217
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
8/12/2019 What to Eat Nutrition Final (1)
1/13
1
What To EatANT 301 Nutrition and Health
Final Exam
Kiki Sabater
8/12/2019 What to Eat Nutrition Final (1)
2/13
2
A BLISSFUL IGNORANCE?
It all used to seem so simple. Healthy eating meant eating French vanilla yogurt
with fruit in the morning, my packed ham and mustard sandwich with an apple for lunch
at school, and my mothersbalanced home cooking for dinner with the occasional cookie
or ice cream indulgence on weekends. Healthy eating was a matter of course in my
world, or at least it seemed that way. My parents encouraged staying far from the sugary
fruit roll-ups my schoolmates devoured ad nauseum during snack time while
Lunchables was a world synonymous to chemistry set should I ever dare to request
one of my own.
Prior to my journey into independent living far form the restrictions of my
parentspantry and structured meal times, I had given little thought as to the reality of the
relative health of the food I was eating. And why should I have? It seems unreason able
to doubt that the food I put into my mouth should be anything less than good for me.
While the sushi I bought at my local Sainsburys my first year at school in Scotland
might have some questionable fake crab, why would I ever think twice about the grapes I
purchased as a post-sushi snack? What would ever lead me to believe that the fiber filled
fruit I could devour by the handful were doused in carcinogenic pesticides that could
destroy my delicate organ systems (Action Network North America, 2009)? Why would I
think twice that they werent organic, or locally grown? They were fruit, and therefore,
they must be good for me.
It wasnt until I became aware of a crippling gluten allergy that had been
plaguing me for years that accompanied lactose-intolerance I tried so desperately to
ignore that I became aware of the effect the food that was supposed to be nourishing
8/12/2019 What to Eat Nutrition Final (1)
3/13
3
was having on me. Upon further research, with a broad, diverse pool of readings from
nutritionists, food critics, anthropologists, food scientists and historians, the apparent
absence of health in the foods available to the civilized person is striking and has
become a reality I, nor the educated consumer, can ignore.
THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM: WHAT NOT TO EAT
In a world where food is mass produced, cultivated in fields sprayed with
Roundup to kill pesky pests, with a food system that uses one crop to feed its livestock,
preserve its foods, and feed its people, healthy eating becomes a daunting task (Kenner,
2010). What is ostensibly nourishing and healthy is instead prodded and poked,
manipulated by the fingers of science and marketing into a product that cheap, tasty, and
often addictive (Moss, 2013). When it comes to deciding what to eat, being able to first
determine what not to eat greatly narrows the consumers pool of choices; and in making
initial steps towards healthier eating, the consumers first step can be to avoid
processed foods.
Packaged is often synonymous with processed, even with the simplest of food
products. Thanks to the emergence of monoculture in farming practices, what was once a
considered a nourishing meal of traditional meat, potatoes, and string beans at the corner
deli is instead a plate of preservatives, pesticides, and most prominently, corn (Pollan,
2006). The advent of the ability to manufacture foods, thanks to an overabundance of
nitrogen fertilized corn (Pollan, 2006), similarly invites a slew of ingredients not found in
any kitchen cupboard into the mouth of the consumer (Kenner,2010). The multigrain
crackers the consumer selects instead of a candy bar are better only in a degree of
8/12/2019 What to Eat Nutrition Final (1)
4/13
4
relativity; both are made of genetically modified corn based ingredients, filled with sugar,
soybean oil, and countless preservatives (Critser, 2003) to keep them safe from the trucks
from the factory to the supermarket shelves where they will sit for what can be weeks if
not months, only to sit potentially for longer in the back of the consumers pantry(Nestle,
2006).
While these ingredients in moderation are not entirely damaging to health
consuming them in moderation has become a near impossibility in the world of packaged
foods. While the consumer can accept that regular fast food consumption is evil
somehow he fails to see that daily sugar laden fruit yogurts or hydrogenated oil filled
salad dressings are just as perilous to his health (Pollan, 2006). The artery clogging
saturated, hydrogenated fats pale in their health effects only to the diabesity inducing
toxic amounts of sugars jammed into the very same food products (Lieberman, 2008).
In order to give scientifically engineered bland cheap corn into a flavorful, delicious,
mouthwatering snack cake, it is pumped with palm, sunflower, and soybean oils to give it
a soft, rich texture that is made palatable by the high fructose corn syrup used to make it
just the right amount of sweet to make you crave the next one (Moss, 2013). This process
is no different from those used to create your favorite brand name salad dressings,
granola bars, or white breads (Critser, 2003).
These additives are useful to the producer to ensure product consistency,
enjoyability, and shelf life, though are not beneficial to the health of the consumer; rather,
they are toxic (Taubes, 2011). While some food brands have been successful in
reducing the amounts of additives in their products, mostly due to FDA restrictions and
mandates with respect to trans fats (and soon hydrogenated oils), sugar restrictions are
8/12/2019 What to Eat Nutrition Final (1)
5/13
5
currently non-existent. When food shopping, the conscious consumer should not avoid
packaged foods at all costs, rather they should be wary of packaged foods that are
simultaneously overly processed; while jarred almond butter can be a healthy choice, it
becomes immediately less so when its ingredients also include hydrogenated palm oil,
sugar, and maltodextrin.
SO I WONT BUY PROCESSED FOODS: WHATS LEFT?
In a perfect world, or namely, in a Paleolithic version of our world, eating an
unprocessed, plant-based diet is both fully nutritious and satisfying (Eaton, 2002). I focus
my suggested diet choices primarily on a plant-based diet for my own health, and
promote it for others because of the potentiality for nutritional fulfillment entirely from
plant sources. Paleolithic man was able to eat a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and
limited amounts of nuts and grains that provided him with a nearly complete and
balanced nutritional profile (Eaton, 2002). In eating dark, leafy greens and seasonably
and geographically available fruits he was not limited by the dominance of one or two
subsistence crops like the agriculturalists that followed him (Goodman, 1989). This shift,
though, from nomadic hunter-gatherers to rooted civilizations who cultivated and
domesticated their food sources created what would become a global shift in human food
consumption (Bryant, 1985).
Thus, were the modern consumer to attempt to make a shift back to his Paleolithic
roots, he would run into some serious nutritional deficiencies. Modern subsistence on a
fruit and vegetable diet would be far from equivalent from that of his Paleolithic
ancestors (Milton, 2002). The important distinction to understand is the nutritional value
8/12/2019 What to Eat Nutrition Final (1)
6/13
6
of these foods with respect to the differences in wild versus cultivated plants. An ear of
genetically modified corn grown tightly packed next to acres of more corn, sprayed with
pesticides that kill not only the nutritious bugs on the plant that is already fighting for
nutrients in the overplanted, nutrient leached soil is hardly nutritionally comparable to a
wild ear of corn fertilized by animal manure instead of nitrogen that has the benefit of
space and time to grow (Bryant, 1985), (Milton, 2002).
With respect to modern production of fruits and vegetables, conventionally
cultivated produce is more often than not genetically modified, meaning that it has been
altered either with gene replacement from other plants or altered to produce a desired
ripening, anti-pest, or pesticide resistant attribute (Cummings, 2009). This results in a
genetic crossover of plants that are in no way related in species, making consumption of
conventionally grown produce dangerous for those of us with serious food allergies
(Cummings, 2009). Beyond the implications of potential allergens, we are unknowingly
subjected to a market flooded with produce that is just as processed and engineered as
the packaged foods on the next aisle over; a processing that is equally dangerous to the
processed food additives found in boxed cookies. With genetic engineering and
modification, we are buying fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts that are antibiotic
resistant, nutritionally lacking, carcinogenic, and pesticide coated (Weber, 2009).
While I do focus on the potentialities for enjoying a healthy plant based diet, I
would like to note the potentiality for a healthy diet that includes meat, fish, and dairy
products in moderation. While I personally avoid these food sources because of
frightening production and domestication techniques used by conventional producers,
there is room for occasional, careful consumption of organic beef, chicken, fish (not
8/12/2019 What to Eat Nutrition Final (1)
7/13
7
farmed) and dairy (Milton, 2002). The reasons I do not openly promote large
consumption of animal products is due to both the feed with which these animals are
provided, namely in the form of corn that they are not designed to digest, as well as
overcrowded, unclean mass domestication and growing techniques that threatens the
potential for health benefits in their consumption (Kenner, 2010). Additionally, habitual
overconsumption of protein (which is the main component of these foods) is not
beneficial for human health, even at the amounts of small daily meat or dairy
consumption (Lieberman, 2008).
Similarly, the consumer should look to make moderate their consumption of
grains and to avoid overly processed and refined versions of them. White flour, white
rice, white pastas, cakes, cookies, etc., made from bleached, refined flours are nutrient
lacking and not beneficial to health (Gueyenet, n.d.). While they may provide a source of
calories and fast carbohydrate energy, they are devoid of the fiber or vitamins from the
husks of whole grain brown or black rice, or the ever favorite, complete-protein quinoa.
However, grains, like animal proteins are not necessary to the human diet to ensure
nutritional needs are met; all of the requirements for proteins, carbohydrates, fats,
vitamins and minerals can be found in a fruit, vegetable, and nut based diet (Gueyenet,
n.d.). Furthermore, production techniques for grains in the current global food system are
often flawed, much like fruit and vegetable production, though the toxin contamination
levels are higher. Most recently, traces of arsenic have been found in brown rice and
brown rice syrup in the form of an alternative sweetener (Berman, 2012). Grain
consumption should perhaps then be kept moderate and occasional, much like animal
proteins and dairy products.
8/12/2019 What to Eat Nutrition Final (1)
8/13
8
WHAT TO EAT: THE CONSUMERS BEST BET
At this point, the consumer throws his hands up, defeated, thinking he might as
well get that Big Mac and super-sized Coke since it appears that nothing is safe for
consumption. While it may be the case that the food system in the U.S. as well as those
worldwide are highly flawed, the consumer is not entirely devoid of healthy food options;
the organic market is often his best choice for safely and ethically produced foods.
Organic, especially Certified Organic in the U.S. ensures no use of dangerous
pesticides, genetic engineering, or chemical fertilizers (Hirshberg, 2009). While this
alternative fails to address the issues of nutrient density of cultivated foods, it is a greatly
favorable alternative to most conventional produce. Additionally, it is important to note
that organic designation is not synonymous with healthy; sugar, corn, and saturated and
refined oils can all be produced organically .
The major issues that organics present, however, are those that also plague
conventionally produced foods; those of large carbon footprints and issues of
sustainability. The ability to mass-produce food has created a potentiality for
irresponsible food production that is a plague both to the consumers health and the
health of our planet (Pesticide Action Network North America, 2009). Decimating the
earths natural resources by producing beyond our natural means with the use of chemical
fertilizers and genetic modification, we are not only destroying the nutritional value of
our food, we are killing our planet (Kenner, 2010). Additionally, transporting foods
across the country, and often across the planet produces an issue of gas emissions that
contribute to the global warming crisis (Nestle, 2006). The consumers best, most health
8/12/2019 What to Eat Nutrition Final (1)
9/13
9
and environmentally friendly choice, then, is to purchase locally produced, organic foods
whenever possible.
WHY SHOULD I CARE?
The effects of the food we eat extend even beyond the consequences of our
consumption habits on our personal health; it becomes a community, national health issue
as well as a huge environmental concern. With more than 40 million obese American
adults and 14 million obese American children, obesity is an American epidemic that has
its growing roots in the overly-processed-sugar-and-fat-dense readily available and
affordable foods (Moss, 2013). Children grow up drinking Cocoa-Cola purchased at their
school vending machines where potato chips are the obvious accompaniment. Major soda
companies pay schools for product promotion while physical education becomes a things
of the past as school budget cuts demand money to be used elsewhere (Blanding, 2010).
Diabetes and metabolic syndrome plague the nations lower socioeconomic classes who
can afford nothing more than the processed and fast food options that are filled with
toxic sugar and artery clogging fats, creating a national health care crisis (Woods Johnson
Foundation, 2009). Buying organic or buying local does more than keep the consumer
and healthier. Responsible consumption sends a message to the major food producers in
the U.S. and to those worldwide, demanding more food that is legitimately nutritious and
safe for all consumers as well as the planet (Salatin, 2009).
Environmentally, animal domestication for consumption is a major contributor to
global warming in the form of methane emissions from livestock production (Kenner,
2010). Its effects are accompanied by the carbon footprint left from transportation of
8/12/2019 What to Eat Nutrition Final (1)
10/13
10
these products as well as fruits and vegetables miles from their growing origins (Nestle,
2006). Similarly, mass monoculture destroys acre upon acre of land, leaching and eroding
the earths topsoil while conventional production techniques pollute water systems with
toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers (Bryant, 1985). The way we eat affects not only
our health, but also the health of our planet, making a shift to responsible, sustainable
production an absolute necessity.
While the research shows the painful reality of the flawed food system of the
nation and world in which we live, it also gives alternatives for more favorable
consumption practices as well as suggestions for future improvements. When deciding
what to eat, the modern consumer must be much more savvy than he might have been
forced to be 50 years ago. Thanks to government subsidies and the introduction of
chemical fertilizers, packaging, processing, genetic engineering and the perils of mass
production have reshaped the way calories are available, thus making the modern
individual that much more responsible for his eating choices (Critser, 2003). Healthy
food is no longer what is most available for human consumption, even when attempting
to subsist on mostly fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Instead, the consumer must be willing to
fight the good fight in the supermarket, reading ingredient lists and nutrition labels,
purchasing organic and local food as much as is available for their own health, the health
of others, and the health of our planet.
On my honor, I have not received, nor given, nor witnessed any unauthorized
assistance on this work
Kristina G. Sabater
8/12/2019 What to Eat Nutrition Final (1)
11/13
11
References Cited
Berman, J. (2012). Scientists Find Arsenic in Baby Formula Sweetener. Voice of America
News, . , Online.
Blanding, M. (2010). The Battle For Schools. The Coke machine: the dirty truth behind
the world's favorite soft drink(pp. 89-117). New York: Avery.
Bryant, C. A. (1985). The Cultural feast: an introduction to food and society. St. Paul:
West Pub. Co..
Critser, G. (2003).Fat land: how Americans became the fattest people in the world.
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co..
Cummings, R. (2009). Hazards of Genetically Engineered Foods and Crops: Why We
Need a Global Moratorium.Food, Inc.: how industrial food is making us sicker,
fatter and poorer -- and what you can do about it(pp. 79-89). New York:
PublicAffairs.
Eaton, S. B., Eaton III, S. B., & Codain, L. (2002). Evolution, Diet, and Health.Human
diet its origin and evolution(pp. 7-17). Westport, Conn.: Bergin & Garvey.
Kenner, R. (Director). (2010).Food, inc[Documentary]. USA: CTV International [ed.] :.
Goodman, A. H., & Armelagos, G. J. (1989). Disease and Death at Dr.Dickinson's
Mounds.Applying anthropology: an introductory reader(pp. 58-62). Mountain
View, Calif.: Mayfield Pub. Co..
Gueyenet, S. (n.d.). Whole Health Source. Grains and Human Evolution. Retrieved
December 11, 2013, from
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/07/grains-and-human-
evolution.html
8/12/2019 What to Eat Nutrition Final (1)
12/13
12
Hirshberg, G. (2009). Organics-- Healthy Food and So Much More.Food, Inc.: how
industrial food is making us sicker, fatter and poorer -- and what you can do
about it(pp. 47-59). New York: PublicAffairs.
Lieberman, L. S., Smith, E. O., McKenna, J. J., & Trevathan, W. (2008). Diabesity and
Darwinian Medicine.Evolutionary medicine and health: new perspectives(pp.
72-95). New York: Oxford University Press.
Milton, K., Teaford, M. F., & Ungar, P. S. (2002). Hunter Gatherer Diets: Wild Foods
Signal Relief from Diseases of Affluece.Human diet its origin and evolution(pp.
111-120). Westport, Conn.: Bergin & Garvey.
Moss, M. (2013, March 20). The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food. The
New York Times, p. Online.
Nestle, M. (2006). The Produce Section. What to eat(pp. 24-66). New York: North Point
Press.
Action Network North America. (2009). FIelds of Poison.Food, Inc.: how industrial
food is making us sicker, fatter and poorer -- and what you can do about it(pp.
143-148). New York: PublicAffairs.
Pollan, M. (2006, June 4). Mass Natural. The New York Times, Online, n.a..
Pollan, M. (2006). The Omnivore's Dilemma. NY: Penguin Group.
Woods Johnson Foundation., & Weber, K. (2009). Childhood Obesity.Food, Inc.: how
industrial food is making us sicker, fatter and poorer -- and what you can do
about it(pp. 259-261). New York: PublicAffairs.
Salatin, J., & Weber, K. (2009). Declare Your Independence.Food, Inc.: how industrial
food is making us sicker, fatter and poorer -- and what you can do about it(pp.
8/12/2019 What to Eat Nutrition Final (1)
13/13
13
189-196). New York: PublicAffairs.
Taubes, G. (2011, April 13). Is Sugar Toxic?. The New York Times, p. Online.
Weber, K. (2009).Food, Inc.: how industrial food is making us sicker, fatter and poorer -
- and what you can do about it. New York: PublicAffairs.