The American Diet

The traditional American diet was simple, it was homemade, it was composed primarily of minimally refined ingredients, it was low in added sugars and fats, with the fats coming primarily from animal sources, and required effort to produce, by comparison, the contemporary American diet is much more diverse it's composed a lot of “palatable” sometimes artificial materials, its commercially engineered and sold, it's composed of refined ingredients, it's high in added sugars and fats with the fat coming primarily from seed oils, and requires minimal effort to procure(Pillsbury). At the same time as modern medicine is conquered the leading killers of the 19 century such as infectious diseases modern culture has created a whole new set of epidemics that we must now cure.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans,2010 contains recommendations for healthy food choices and physical activity for the nation. This report is updated and issued every 5 years by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The information that is presented is fostered by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee which consists of scientific experts. The goal of the document is to increase knowledge and to put what is learned into action by facilitating heathy eating as well as regular physical activity, with its latter purpose of improving the health of all Americans ages two years and older.

Over the past few decades, deficiencies of essential nutrients have drastically diminished, many infectious diseases have been reduced, and most of the U.S. population can now foresee a long and productive life. In the meantime, rates of chronic diseases hefty portion of which are identified with poor quality diet and physical activity has increased. About half of all American grown-up have one or more preventable, diet-related chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes, and overweight and obesity.

In Michael Pollan’s essay, “The American Paradox”, Pollan argues that American’s hold falsified ideas if one is more focused on nutrition. Americans have too much going on in their head with trying to be healthy, that they do not actually become healthy. The notion that “a notably unhealthy population preoccupied with nutrition and the idea of eating healthy” (Pollan 268) is what Pollan defines as the “American paradox”. The amount of time spent focusing on healthy eating habits decreases the joy one contains. Pollan identifies many issues that contribute to what is wrong with the way Americans think about eating today. For instance, we spend too much time and money trying to be healthy, we have strayed away from the past as new inventions occurred and last being we listen to “flawed science”. Despite the fact that many may say they see positive results from focusing on nutrition and health, Americans actually receive negative outcomes from nutrition and health.

I chose to address the questions what are the strengths and weaknesses of the American diet, as well as, what is distinctive about American food. I chose these questions to focus my research paper on because of the relationship between the American diet and health care. The United States is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, due to immigration, which is what makes it so distinctive. The diet also has many flaws including the cause for rising medical issues. I have a pre-nursing major, so diet plays a big role in the medical field. My purpose for researching the American diet is to be able to…. With the Industrial Revolution, the inventions of many new products such as processed foods, refrigerators, and fast food chains.

The state of the American Health in the U.S has become an increasing concern of many Americans. An article entitled “11 Facts about American Eating Habits,” addresses the state of food in the U.S by stating, “Healthiness of the food we eat decreases by 1.7 percent for every hour that passes in the day.” Experts and scientists in the U.S has raised questions about regarding the different ways food is now being produced. While individuals are usually not aware of the ingredients that food contains, many people continue to have unhealthy eating habits. In the past few decades, food production has included numerous artificial ingredients that are said to be the cause of various health problems. Various artificial ingredients that are commonly

Journalist and novelist Michael Pollan writes about the trials and tribulations surrounding food in North America and raises questions regarding Western diet, which is mostly comprised of refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup and corn in general. He reiterates that chemically generated food is creating disease in North Americans; If we eliminate these factors and adopt the eating habits of less industrialized places in the world will we in our lifetime see rates of heart disease, type two diabetes and obesity decline dramatically? The western diet has evolved drastically in the last sixty years, so much so that people have become codependent on the government, dietitians and food agencies regarding their health and what to consume. The land is suffering from pesticides and singular plant farming, the alternative to this is to buy organic but at a higher price. Media has influenced the consumer to read the label and accept and trust the daily vitamin percentages on the box, as this is what is best for them. Money is the key factor in all of this and the government, scientific research and media know that, therefor the public is in for a shock when they realize that the very labels that are supposed to save them have fooled them.

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

Many Americans are concern about the increment of disease and obesity caused by the limited options of healthy food, “since America is saturated with junk food advertising”(Khullar 135). However, in consequence of the absence of an American cuisine, fast food restaurants and foods high in fats offered by supermarkets, has become the first option to Americans. After all, Pollan’s argument that the lack of a stable traditional cuisine is the consequence of America’s national eating disorder and the steady national diet is reasonable since there are many factors that support his claim. For example, Mary Roach, in Liver and Opinions: Why We Eat What We Eat and Despite the Rest, claims that the food we eat is influenced by people’s cultural background; in other words, people are used to eating what their parents feed them when they were kids. “In addition, Americans have a conflict with having a stable eating habit; they tend to change their diet often”(Roach 123). Overall, Pollan’s is comprehensible while he argues that Americans do not have a stable culture of food, which causes an instability in people’s

The United States has progressed from a rural, agricultural nation to an urbanized industrial one in just the last two centuries. Through this the transformation of the American lifestyles have changed drastically. Other countries focus on eating well, excercise, and taking enough time to eat and enjoying what they are eating. One lifestyle that many Americans have adapted to is the Western Diet, but today around the world the Western Diet is not viewed as the most nutritious or beneficial diet for humans. The nutritional patterns of high-fat and cholesterol, high protein, high sugar, and excessive salt intake, as well as the excessive consumption of processed fast foods has collectively defined the Western Diet. Even though this type of

“Dietary patterns of Americans differ widely, but most Americans eat a diet that could best be described as in need of improvement”. Compared to other countries, the American diet is very different. I have first hand experienced how much different Americans eat from other countries. For a brief, but very beneficial and productive time, I lived in Barcelona, Spain with my host family. Over in Spain, they eat much more fresh, organic food. There was a lot more seafood in the average diet. The meal configuration over there is also different than ours. Lunch is the largest meal eaten every day; different than America, where dinner is the largest.

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)

Today, consumers think of fruits and vegetables as foods they should eat, but refuse to purchase because of the “whole paycheck” price. However, in a paper recently published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it appears that buying fruits and vegetables may be cheaper than consumers think. Some key findings include:

Unfortunately, the United States has an overwhelming percentage of adults that are overweight or obese when compared to the global percentage of 33%, nearly half of the United States percentage of 68% (Fleming et al., 2014). Due to the number of people that are affected by excess body weight, many measures have been taken in order to reduce the percentage in the US including encouraging healthy eating habits at a young age, promoting an active lifestyle and a greater awareness of caloric intake. For this assignment I chose five people that I know through school and work, understanding their stressful lifestyle is important to know when considering possible factors that may contribute to their unhealthy habits.

Consumption of a diet with high amounts of dietary fats in mice minimizes the expression of CLOCK protein and disrupts the sleep cycle.