BIOLOGY 1090--Human Biology
Reflection - Most often the message we get from society about food is "eat healthier". This assignment has brought more balance to my thinking, as well as my eating.
Taking Sides - What's the Deal with Food?
From magazines, the internet, or even food labels it seems no matter where you look there are messages about eating healthy and losing weight. Food clearly is in the middle of our obsession with diet, health and weight. No wonder a new term has been created to describe some people's fixation on eating healthy. Meet "Orthorexia". A disorder characterized by a morbid obsession with eating only healthy foods.
Figure 1: Orthorexia Nervosa
Source: Ingredients of a Fit Chick. 2015 Web. 09 Nov 2015.
Source: Ingredients of a Fit Chick. 2015 Web. 09 Nov 2015.
In the article, Can an Overemphasis on Eating Healthy Become Unhealthy, Lindsey Getz believes people can take eating healthy foods to the extreme (Fig 1). She describes people that strive for a perfect diet as orthorexia and sees this behavior as restrictive to the degree that it begins to interfere with the person's quality of life. She focused on a dietian's role in effecting change in people's lives that could have this condition or a propensity towards this condition. The fact that a dietian's job is to educate and direct individuals in the direction of healthy eating makes them a prime candidate to gain some ground with educating the public of this condition. For instance a misunderstanding about at may lead a person to eliminate fat from their diet and miss the point that unsaturated fats can be healthy for the heart and lower cholesterol. The author referenced an article in the New York Times that reported an 18-year-old girl with orthorexia. This girl had eliminated the foods that she had deemed unhealthy bringing her calorie intake down to only 500 calories and her weight falling to 68 lbs (Getz 2009). The extreme focus on the perfect diet, poorly executed can result in diets and food choices which have a negative effect on people's health.
The author mixed some of her own perception into the article stating, "We (Americans) are constantly calling foods good or bad" and "putting all of this weight onto what we eat, as though it actually affects who you are as a person, is where the problem is stemming from". This cause-effect statement is interesting, but not proven. The fallacy I see in this article is that wanting to eat healthy can turn into a disorder (Getz 2009).
The author mixed some of her own perception into the article stating, "We (Americans) are constantly calling foods good or bad" and "putting all of this weight onto what we eat, as though it actually affects who you are as a person, is where the problem is stemming from". This cause-effect statement is interesting, but not proven. The fallacy I see in this article is that wanting to eat healthy can turn into a disorder (Getz 2009).
Figure 2: American Diet
Source: TSM Interactive. 20 May 2012 Web. 09 Nov 2015.
Source: TSM Interactive. 20 May 2012 Web. 09 Nov 2015.
On the opposing side of the issue, Chris Woolston believes that larger portion sizes and increased convenience of fast food and vending machines has contributed to too many calories in the American diet (Fig 2). He thinks we need to take action and take control of our diet. The author uses factual information to support his assertions noting that the American diet has grown by 304 calories per day in the last 25 years. The eye-opening data that sixty-six percent of Americans are considered overweight, and forty-two percent of Americans eat fewer than two servings a day of fruits and vegetables makes this point of view hard to ignore (Woolston 2009).
Woolston brings some opinion and fallacy into his article with the statements, "People think eating healthy is a difficult task, but small things make a big difference" and "everyone in the food industry decided they had to make portions larger to stay competitive, and people got used to large sizes very quickly." He uses broad generalizations in these statements. I also think there could be more at play than "everyone" started using larger portions to be competitive. Food is much more accessible now than it has been in the past and I feel that has had an impact on the amount of food we eat. I felt like a bit of a fear tactic was being used in this article by using words like "disaster" (Woolston 2009).
Out of the two articles, the "What's Wrong with the American Diet?" article seemed to be more factually based. The author used three professionals in the food industry to backup his writings. For instance when asked what's wrong with the American diet, each of them replied, "Too many calories". Woolston also boosted the credibility of his article by referencing information from studies that have been done about food, such as, "Sixty-six percent of all Americans are considered overweight" (Woolston 2009).
I believe the American diet leaves much to be desired in terms of results. Oversized portions and lack of nutritional value of the food has contributed to the epidemic of overweight individuals. I also think that an overemphasis on eating healthy can become unhealthy. I don't think one position proves the other wrong. I have had a time in my life where I put an extreme focus on eating healthy. My personal experience was that the elimination of foods I considered "bad", based mostly on advertising and food labeling , I had poor results which not only didn't achieve the results I was looking for but had the additional adverse effect of causing a hormone imbalance. I have had better results from a more balanced approach, one which I consider reasonable is the Dr. Phil's 20/20 Diet. The first phase of the diet helps to reset the pallet and detoxify the body from sugars. After only a few days, healthy food tasted good to me and made it much easier to want to eat healthy. Taking diet and food choices to an extreme is the problem not a reasonable focus on healthy eating.
I think with a better understanding of a balanced diet (Fig 3) and the moderation that Woolston speaks of, individuals can begin to make decisions to improve their diet and decrease the number of people that are overweight. This can have a great impact on our quality of life and the health crisis in America.
Woolston brings some opinion and fallacy into his article with the statements, "People think eating healthy is a difficult task, but small things make a big difference" and "everyone in the food industry decided they had to make portions larger to stay competitive, and people got used to large sizes very quickly." He uses broad generalizations in these statements. I also think there could be more at play than "everyone" started using larger portions to be competitive. Food is much more accessible now than it has been in the past and I feel that has had an impact on the amount of food we eat. I felt like a bit of a fear tactic was being used in this article by using words like "disaster" (Woolston 2009).
Out of the two articles, the "What's Wrong with the American Diet?" article seemed to be more factually based. The author used three professionals in the food industry to backup his writings. For instance when asked what's wrong with the American diet, each of them replied, "Too many calories". Woolston also boosted the credibility of his article by referencing information from studies that have been done about food, such as, "Sixty-six percent of all Americans are considered overweight" (Woolston 2009).
I believe the American diet leaves much to be desired in terms of results. Oversized portions and lack of nutritional value of the food has contributed to the epidemic of overweight individuals. I also think that an overemphasis on eating healthy can become unhealthy. I don't think one position proves the other wrong. I have had a time in my life where I put an extreme focus on eating healthy. My personal experience was that the elimination of foods I considered "bad", based mostly on advertising and food labeling , I had poor results which not only didn't achieve the results I was looking for but had the additional adverse effect of causing a hormone imbalance. I have had better results from a more balanced approach, one which I consider reasonable is the Dr. Phil's 20/20 Diet. The first phase of the diet helps to reset the pallet and detoxify the body from sugars. After only a few days, healthy food tasted good to me and made it much easier to want to eat healthy. Taking diet and food choices to an extreme is the problem not a reasonable focus on healthy eating.
I think with a better understanding of a balanced diet (Fig 3) and the moderation that Woolston speaks of, individuals can begin to make decisions to improve their diet and decrease the number of people that are overweight. This can have a great impact on our quality of life and the health crisis in America.
Figure 3: Balanced Diet
Source: The Fit Indian. 2015 Web. 09 Nov 2015.
Source: The Fit Indian. 2015 Web. 09 Nov 2015.
Works Cited
Getz, Lindsey (2009) Orthorexia: When Eating Healthy Becomes an Unhealthy Obsession, Today's Dietitian.
Woolston, Chris (2009) What's Wrong with the American Diet, Consumer Health Interactive
Woolston, Chris (2009) What's Wrong with the American Diet, Consumer Health Interactive