With Reference To Pp. 3-50 Explain The Term Nutritionism
Reading Assignment 1. Present one idea in the introduction (pp. 1-15) that was surprising or intriguing to you and explain why. (1-2 sentences) * What surprised me in the introduction is that people used to know how to eat well, but nowadays dietary lessons have been confused, complicated, and destroyed by food industry marketers. As a result, we are being advised to consume the fake food which is called “nutrients”.
2. From the section pp. 27-32 explain the term nutritionism and its key feature scientific reductionism. (3-5 sentences, and these concepts will also be covered in lectures.) * The term nutritionism is the main ideology about food. Pollan says, “In the case of nutritionism, the widely shared but unexamined assumption is that the key to understanding food is indeed the nutrient.” (page 28) * Scientific reductionism is definitely a powerful tool, but it can mislead us too, especially when applied to something as complex as, on the one side, a food, and on the other, a human eater. It encourages us to take a mechanistic view of that transaction: put in this nutrient; get out that physiological result. However people differ in important ways.
3. From the section pp. 40-50 explain what the lipid hypothesis claimed, what …show more content…
evidence over time called it into question, and what disastrous health consequences it led to. (5-7 sentences)) * The Lipid Hypothesis specifically concerns chronic disease. The evidence was that the dangers of the trans-fat were no longer ignored so people switched from butter to margarine. It is claiming that low fat and fat free are much better for people to get healthier. The disastrous health consequences it led was the rising coronary heart disease. As a result, blood flow to the heart can slow down or stop.
4. From the section pp. 85-89 explain what researcher Kerin O’Dea learned in her experiment changing the diet of aboriginals of Western Australia. (2-3 sentences) * After the 7th week, there were striking improvements in almost all areas of aboriginals of Western Australia’s health. All ten participants had lost their weight, had lowered their blood pressure, lower triglycerides in their blood.
5. From the section on the industrialization of eating (pp. 106-136) write a paragraph summarizing the implications of each of the five key dimensions of change. (5 paragraphs)
A. From whole foods to refined
Explain all the nutrients that were lost and also explain how refined foods are digested differently from whole foods. * Michael Pollan mentioned that people have been filtering grains starting from the industrial revolution, for instance preferring white flour and rice to brown, even though losing brown has more nutrients. Something that may not necessarily be thought of as a whole food, but which is still pretty beneficial to our health is Juice. We know that not all juices are made equally. You may miss out on some fiber, but juice is like nutritious drink, especially juices from green vegetables which are generally more nutrient solid. Refined foods have less nutrition in them where as wholefoods are food naturel. Wholefoods are foods that have not been refined or processed. This means that they have not been broken down physically or chemically into lesser parts and subsequently eaten or made use of as part of the wholefood of the food.
B. From complexity to simplicity
Explain two different ways in which simplifying is not a virtue. * The first way that simplifying is not a virtue is chemically simplified soil. This chemically simplified soil produces chemically simplified plants. Soil chemistry is affected by mineral composition, organic matter and environmental factors. The second one is the simplification of our food. As we know many nutrients are being worn-out by processing or chemically stabilizing whole food.
From quality to quantity * In the 1950s people used to get all the nutrients from the food they were consuming, however; today it is the opposite way.
Nutrient content in food has been decreased. According to analysis that was mentioned in the book, “vitamin C declined by 20 percent, riboflavin by 38 percent, iron by 15 percent, and calcium by 16 percent” (page 118). Another fact is that we do not get the same amount of iron from apples today as we did in the 1940s. One apple today is equal to 3 apples of the 1940s based on amount of iron. The important key here is that even though we have a vast quantity of food, we do not get the same quality. In other words the higher the quantity of food, the lower the quality of
it.
C. From leaves to seeds
Explain what benefits are in leaves that are missing in seeds. * The benefits in leaves that aren’t in seeds; some researchers believe that fiber, and the essential omega-3 fatty acids are the most important missing nutrients found in leaves which are missing in seeds. Another benefit is that the leaves have more antioxidants than seeds have, because the seeds are not participating in photosynthesis.
D. From food culture to food science * As a culture or as individuals, we do not seem to have the knowledge about what we should eat or what we shouldn’t. Every day on the TV and in the newspaper we see that there is another ideal diet. Because we see something new every day we don’t know what to do. Also food marketers punch us saying that this food or that food is heart healthy. Instead of listening to our common sense or traditions, we listen to scientists, to government guidelines, and to package labels.
6. Michael Pollan says avoid food with labels that make big nutritional claims. Choose a food product (from your family’s fridge or the supermarket) that makes nutritional claims on its package that you are skeptical about. Write a paragraph raising critical questions about the claims. Tie your comments to the specific claims and contrast with the actual list of ingredients on the package. * The nutrient facts label on your favorite breakfast cereal says to you that it is full of vitamins and minerals, so it must be healthy, right? If a food is high in vitamins that doesn’t mean that the food is healthy overall. Of course, it is very good that your cereal provides a shot of vitamins and minerals. However, what if it is also loaded with sugar? Eating healthy means choosing a lot of different kinds of food throughout the day to get all the nutrients you need, such as vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fiber, etc. So how do you figure all this out? It is good that there is something called a “food label”. Food labels provide you with more than just nutrition facts, they also tell you what is in a packaged food. For example, Vector cereal is one the most famous cereal products in the market. “The more you put in, the more you get out. That’s the core belief of Kellogg's Vector. A 55 g serving of Vector Meal Replacement with 200 ml of skim milk provides: 54 g of carbohydrates, a good source of protein, and 22 vitamins and minerals” it says in the description of this product. However, when I checked the nutrient facts; it says it has 11 g of sugar in it which isn’t as healthy as you might have thought!
2. From the section pp. 27-32 explain the term nutritionism and its key feature scientific reductionism. (3-5 sentences, and these concepts will also be covered in lectures.) * The term nutritionism is the main ideology about food. Pollan says, “In the case of nutritionism, the widely shared but unexamined assumption is that the key to understanding food is indeed the nutrient.” (page 28) * Scientific reductionism is definitely a powerful tool, but it can mislead us too, especially when applied to something as complex as, on the one side, a food, and on the other, a human eater. It encourages us to take a mechanistic view of that transaction: put in this nutrient; get out that physiological result. However people differ in important ways.
3. From the section pp. 40-50 explain what the lipid hypothesis claimed, what …show more content…
evidence over time called it into question, and what disastrous health consequences it led to. (5-7 sentences)) * The Lipid Hypothesis specifically concerns chronic disease. The evidence was that the dangers of the trans-fat were no longer ignored so people switched from butter to margarine. It is claiming that low fat and fat free are much better for people to get healthier. The disastrous health consequences it led was the rising coronary heart disease. As a result, blood flow to the heart can slow down or stop.
4. From the section pp. 85-89 explain what researcher Kerin O’Dea learned in her experiment changing the diet of aboriginals of Western Australia. (2-3 sentences) * After the 7th week, there were striking improvements in almost all areas of aboriginals of Western Australia’s health. All ten participants had lost their weight, had lowered their blood pressure, lower triglycerides in their blood.
5. From the section on the industrialization of eating (pp. 106-136) write a paragraph summarizing the implications of each of the five key dimensions of change. (5 paragraphs)
A. From whole foods to refined
Explain all the nutrients that were lost and also explain how refined foods are digested differently from whole foods. * Michael Pollan mentioned that people have been filtering grains starting from the industrial revolution, for instance preferring white flour and rice to brown, even though losing brown has more nutrients. Something that may not necessarily be thought of as a whole food, but which is still pretty beneficial to our health is Juice. We know that not all juices are made equally. You may miss out on some fiber, but juice is like nutritious drink, especially juices from green vegetables which are generally more nutrient solid. Refined foods have less nutrition in them where as wholefoods are food naturel. Wholefoods are foods that have not been refined or processed. This means that they have not been broken down physically or chemically into lesser parts and subsequently eaten or made use of as part of the wholefood of the food.
B. From complexity to simplicity
Explain two different ways in which simplifying is not a virtue. * The first way that simplifying is not a virtue is chemically simplified soil. This chemically simplified soil produces chemically simplified plants. Soil chemistry is affected by mineral composition, organic matter and environmental factors. The second one is the simplification of our food. As we know many nutrients are being worn-out by processing or chemically stabilizing whole food.
From quality to quantity * In the 1950s people used to get all the nutrients from the food they were consuming, however; today it is the opposite way.
Nutrient content in food has been decreased. According to analysis that was mentioned in the book, “vitamin C declined by 20 percent, riboflavin by 38 percent, iron by 15 percent, and calcium by 16 percent” (page 118). Another fact is that we do not get the same amount of iron from apples today as we did in the 1940s. One apple today is equal to 3 apples of the 1940s based on amount of iron. The important key here is that even though we have a vast quantity of food, we do not get the same quality. In other words the higher the quantity of food, the lower the quality of
it.
C. From leaves to seeds
Explain what benefits are in leaves that are missing in seeds. * The benefits in leaves that aren’t in seeds; some researchers believe that fiber, and the essential omega-3 fatty acids are the most important missing nutrients found in leaves which are missing in seeds. Another benefit is that the leaves have more antioxidants than seeds have, because the seeds are not participating in photosynthesis.
D. From food culture to food science * As a culture or as individuals, we do not seem to have the knowledge about what we should eat or what we shouldn’t. Every day on the TV and in the newspaper we see that there is another ideal diet. Because we see something new every day we don’t know what to do. Also food marketers punch us saying that this food or that food is heart healthy. Instead of listening to our common sense or traditions, we listen to scientists, to government guidelines, and to package labels.
6. Michael Pollan says avoid food with labels that make big nutritional claims. Choose a food product (from your family’s fridge or the supermarket) that makes nutritional claims on its package that you are skeptical about. Write a paragraph raising critical questions about the claims. Tie your comments to the specific claims and contrast with the actual list of ingredients on the package. * The nutrient facts label on your favorite breakfast cereal says to you that it is full of vitamins and minerals, so it must be healthy, right? If a food is high in vitamins that doesn’t mean that the food is healthy overall. Of course, it is very good that your cereal provides a shot of vitamins and minerals. However, what if it is also loaded with sugar? Eating healthy means choosing a lot of different kinds of food throughout the day to get all the nutrients you need, such as vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fiber, etc. So how do you figure all this out? It is good that there is something called a “food label”. Food labels provide you with more than just nutrition facts, they also tell you what is in a packaged food. For example, Vector cereal is one the most famous cereal products in the market. “The more you put in, the more you get out. That’s the core belief of Kellogg's Vector. A 55 g serving of Vector Meal Replacement with 200 ml of skim milk provides: 54 g of carbohydrates, a good source of protein, and 22 vitamins and minerals” it says in the description of this product. However, when I checked the nutrient facts; it says it has 11 g of sugar in it which isn’t as healthy as you might have thought!