What’s up with the Raw Deal?
The Atkins diet? South-Beach Diet? Jenny Craig? Weight Watchers? But a Raw-food only diet? What the…?! Consuming only raw foods? Not cooking anything? Isn’t that unhealthy? Not according to advocates of this diet. The raw foods diet is among some of the latest fad and celebrity-hyped diets out there today, you can even find some restaurants that only serve raw foods. The name of the raw food diet says it all: You only consume raw, unprocessed foods. Diet devotees claim the diet improves nutrition and health, offers spiritual enlightenment and improves digestion among other things. But can a diet consisting only of raw foods truly live up to its promises and can it be healthy?
Followers consume a diet regimen made up of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables, sprouted seeds, nuts, legumes, dried fruits, milk from coconut, fresh fruit and vegetable juices and other organic or natural foods which have not been processed. Sounds healthy. It stems from the thinking that raw and living foods contain the essential enzymes needed for proper digestion, as well as containing higher nutrient values. Raw food dieters believe the enzymes in raw foods are the life force and that every food has its own essential enzymes. These enzymes help the body digest the foods completely, without relying on the body’s own enzymes. This means that cooked foods, foods cooked higher than 116 °F, are “ dead” because all of these enzymes and nutrients are destroyed.
But is their scientific data to back this up? No, not really. It has been widely known and accepted that cooking our food is healthier and safer. Cooking foods kills any harmful bacteria, it lets us eat a wide variety of foods especially those who cannot tolerate raw uncooked vegetables, which can leave individuals with nutrient deficiencies. And well, yes cooking does kill the foods enzymes, our body has its own enzymes for proper digestion and health and doesn’t need other enzymes.
He claims that a better diet requires spending more time and resources on food, just like the people of the past did. Pollan attributes their surpassing health to this practice, but in his article “How Junk Food Can End Obesity”, David Freedman paints a different story. Freedman describes how examinations of ancient non-Western remains revealed “hardened arteries, suggesting that pre-industrial diets…may not have been the epitome of healthy eating” (514). This discovery seriously undermines Pollan’s assumption that we should follow the lead of our ancestors because even though they spent a greater amount of resources on food and ate absolutely no processed foods, they still suffered from some of the same diseases which Pollan claims his eating habits will curb. As an opponent of processed foods, or “foodlike products” (Pollan 426), Pollan advocates eating whole foods. As many people have a similar opinion, he is not alone in this, but he is misinformed. Freedman reveals that after examining the nutrition labels on various unprocessed, whole foods, he found that many contained more fat, sugar, and sodium than processed foods (512). If unprocessed foods underwent the same scrutiny as processed foods, perhaps this common misconception could be prevented. The basic premise of Pollan’s essay is that a better diet will lead to better health. While we could all benefit from a better diet, “findings linking food type and health are considered highly unreliable (Freedman 518). Freedman discusses the multitude of nondietary factors such as air quality and exercise that render such studies untrustworthy. Pollan might be a well-respected author of nutrition books, but this does not mean that his theories are free of
When we think of our national health we wonder why Americans end up obese, heart disease filled, and diabetic. Michael Pollan’s “ Escape from the Western Diet” suggest that everything we eat has been processed some food to the point where most of could not tell what went into what we ate. Pollan thinks that if America thought more about our “Western diets” of constantly modified foods and begin to shift away from it to a more home grown of mostly plant based diet it could create a more pleasing eating culture. He calls for us to “Eat food, Not too much, Mostly plants.” However, Mary Maxfield’s “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating”, argues differently she has the point of view that people simply eat in the wrong amounts. She recommends for others to “Trust yourself. Trust your body. Meet your needs.” The skewed perception of eating will cause you all kinds of health issues, while not eating at all and going skinny will mean that you will remain healthy rather than be anorexic. Then, as Maxfield points out, “We hear go out and Cram your face with Twinkies!”(Maxfield 446) when all that was said was eating as much as you need.
In recent studies, it was discovered that most of the foods that Americans consumed are foods which had gone through so many processes and thereby losing most of its nutritional values. Unhealthy nutrients are also been added to foods as additive during production to either preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance. An individual cannot simply trust what he or she is consuming at a fast food restaurant or even a cheap prepared meal at a grocery store. Processed food or western diet needs to be replaced and totally taken out of the American life and diet; this will help the Americans to live a healthier life, and spend less on medical bills.
Food science has also done some damage to people’s diets by replacing fresh food in our supermarkets to aisles of boxed and frozen food that lack nutrients in them This problem was noticed in 1977 when a document called Dietary Goals for the United States was created after rates of coronary heart disease had soared in America since World War II. In 1977, the lipid hypothesis, it proposes that dietary or saturated fat causes heart disease by raising the concentration of cholesterol in the blood. Government has been changing the Dietary Guidelines for the United States quite often which proves not even scientists know everything about nutrition. Nutritionism has led to the creation of processed foods which has been
For some time, scholars and writers have continuously debated as to what constitutes or defines the idea of healthy eating, mainly because of the increase in the number of people diagnosed with ailments associated with bad eating habits. It has quickly become the forefront of issue, particularly in the United States. In recognition of this on-going debate, this composition seeks to compare and contrast two well-known authors concerning how we think about and consume food. In Michael Pollan’s discussion, “Escape from the Western Diet,” he discusses the negative sides of nutrition science, including conflicting theories surrounding the elements of healthy food consumption and why solutions are essential for the Western diet and lifestyle. “Escape from the Western Diet,’’ is among the articles that talks about the eating habits of individuals in the society. In the article, Pollan points out not only the numerous conflicts concerning what types of diets – including carbohydrate-based, the inclusion of omega-3s, other nutrition-specific needs - that are believed to directly affect general health or specific illnesses, but also how western nutritionism compares to other countries diets affect longevity outcomes. In the end, Pollan suggests that the United States must seek solutions that move towards more natural, unprocessed, plant-based lifestyles that ensure that individuals are making what they consume a primary
Therefore, our food is not highly processed and we are aware of what we are putting in our body. Pollan urges his audience to be aware of food that contains ingredients that are “unfamiliar, unpronounceable, and more than five in number “ (Pollan). This is most likely because these types of ingredients are harmful when consumed. My mother’s home cooked meals ensure that there is little to no ingredients that we are unfamiliar with. This is especially because my family has a garden in our backyard. I usually do most of the planting and watering and caring of the plants, therefore I am knowledgeable in what’s being put in the
Americans should eliminate their regular consumption of animal products and processed foods. This type of diet leads to preventable and expensive health issues such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and even death. Most Americans don’t realize that the majority of the food being advertised to them is literal garbage that’s infusing their bodies with toxins on a daily basis. As Americans, we take pride and joy in our food, given the fact that it’s so darn tasty. We find comfort in eating a cheeseburger with French fries and slurping down a 44-ounce cola. However, what we eat has a far more detrimental effect on our health than most of us are aware of. To some, making the switch to a raw food diet might seem to be taking a drastic measure.
There is no surprise that food is important in all aspects of our lives—it is shared amongst families, celebrated as a major part of our culture, and crucial to our daily routine that keeps us fit, healthy, and active. Today’s western culture glorifies a skewed perspective on how food is supposed to fit into our lives. Somehow this perception has led us to believe we no longer have the time or money it takes to prepare a wholesome, healthy meal that is shared at the dinner table with family. Instead, we are trained to want a meal that is fast, cheap, and easy. This meal is usually highly processed and filled with sugars and fats. This has led us to a problem of epidemic proportions characterized by the rapid increase in obesity and diabetes.
The vegetarian diet has become very popular in the United States. How does not eating meat affect a person's health? It is important for people to eat a nutritious diet that will fuel their body. Some people think the vegetarian diet is bad for a person because there are so many nutrients that we can only get from meat.The vegetarian diet has a stigma that it is not very healthy, however the vegetarian diet can be very beneficial to a person's health.
The American population is fat. What’s worse, we are getting fatter. For many years, a body mass index (BMI) of 27 or more (weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) was the standard criteria for being overweight, and a BMI of 30 or more was the criteria for obesity. This meant that more than one third of U.S. adults were overweight. In recent years the criteria has been reduced to a BMI of 25 or more to be considered overweight, with the obesity criteria remaining the same. Now, more than 50% of U.S. adults are classified as being overweight. Interestingly, as the number of overweight individuals skyrockets, so too does the number of various diets that Americans are willing to try in their search for the thin standard that our culture idolizes. One of the most popular, and many claim successful, of the conglomerate of diets is the Atkins protein diet, named after its founder and guru Dr. Robert C. Atkins. With more than six million copies in print, Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution proclaims to be "the amazing no-hunger weight-loss plan that has helped millions lose weight and keep it off" (Atkins). Sounds great, but what is this diet, and is it too good to be true?
Today in the Western Hemisphere, many chronic health problems result from bad eating habits. There are a mix of people who are over-nourished, malnourished, or both. We eat chemically altered, high-fat toxic foods that do not provide a sufficient amount of essential vitamins and minerals to our bodies. Clogging of the eliminative systems with excess mucous is thought to sustain congestive diseases. Ineffective digestion and poor nourishment result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies. A well-balanced diet can overcome this health crisis. A diet of raw foods and fluids helps cleanse the body, and fasting takes the cleansing a step further.
However, some people might argue by saying that this diet wouldn’t work because living the lives of cavemen in present times is just impossible. If you look at the concept literally, you would surely find it difficult to adhere to. This is why those who have an open mind and those who are not afraid to try out new things for their own benefit are those that will really benefit from this kind of diet.
Food has been a common source of necessity in our everyday lives as humans. It helps gives us nutrition and energy to live throughout our life. Over several decades, the development of making foods has evolved. They have changed from natural to processed foods in recent years. Nowadays natural ingredients are barely used in the making of foods like bread, cheese, or yogurt. The food industry today has replaced natural food making with inorganic ingredients. The cause of this switch is due to processed foods being easier, cheaper and faster to make. Artificial nutrition and processed foods have been proven to last longer in market shelves then natural foods. Also, due to artificial additives in processed foods they help satisfy consumers taste more than natural ingredients. The method of producing processed foods is common in today's food industry and helps make money faster and efficiently for companies. Examples of this can be found in all markets that distribute food. Even though processed foods may be easier and faster to make, they are nowhere near as healthy for consumers compared to natural foods. Natural foods are healthier, wholesome, and beneficial to the human body and planet then processed foods.
When we prepare our own food, we know exactly which ingredients and how much is going into our food. Instead you don’t have to think about the unhealthy cooking methods and ingredients going into your food. For instance, most restaurants have meals that are high in fat, salt, sugar, and would use butter or oils with trans fats. While at
Most people today recognize that fast food meals are generally not very beneficial to one’s health, regardless of their decision to consume them. What many people do not understand is how much better a home cooked meal can be when compared to these cheap and tasty options. When examining the American fast food diet, home cooked meals provide healthier cooking methods, lower risk for health disorders, and lower obesity rates.