...Arguments: Is Vegan/Vegetarianism Diets Healthy? Eating is a necessary task humans undertake every day to survive and thrive. Food has become a huge part of society’s everyday culture and an essential aspect in our economy. As humans, we are capable of choosing the types of food we put in our bodies and these choices define in part what we look like and what we stand for. People choose whether they would like to be carnivores, vegetarians, vegans, or a combination. Author Ben Kim, a chiropractor and acupuncturist in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, states his thoughts on these choices in his article “A Strict Vegetarian Diet Is Unhealthy for Most People.” His article was written in 2010 to discourage people from adopting 100% vegan diets because in his opinion these diets are dangerous to the long term health of humans. Kim addresses his article to people who have adopted or are thinking of adopting 100% vegan lifestyles. He is trying to convince these groups that it is unhealthy long-term to limit yourself to a 100% plant-based diet. The main ideas Kim states in order to dissuade his audience from adopting vegan diets are that 100% vegan diets lead long term to the development of nutritional deficiencies and significant health problems, that the morality of vegan lifestyles are questionable, and that the organizations that promote vegan lifestyles have ulterior motives. While Kim makes a weak argument against 100% vegan diets, his assertion that diets with a majority of plant based foods...
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...Stop the violence, start the diet It is known throughout history, it has commonly been understood that nature provides the best medicine for all animals of this planet. Humans are no exception; so how does a human get the needed nutrients to maintain a healthy body? The answer is through its constant fuel supply. When the body has everything it needs, it runs efficiently and with the story, it shows that these statements are true. When a proper diet comes into play, you can have a noticeable switch when it comes to emotions. People, who have what they need, show that there is something about them that just gives off a glow. This is interesting for the fact that if we were to do something such as change our diet and how we get our food, could we stop things such as drug abuse, or PTSD. The most interesting thing about this whole story was the fact there is facts supporting change; if we change our diets we can change who we are. Everyone may not want to change but there is an outlet for those who do. We can make our own food and make our fuel to maximize our machines we call bodies. First off, this so called glow that people get is actually a good indication that your skin is healthy. I had found this interesting in the story that they focus on mainly mental health. This is factual that mental health is drastically important when you’re speaking on the behalf of your wellbeing; when you, speak about the physical part of your body, it is usually an indication of that individual’s...
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...“Wheat Belly” By William Davis, M.D. When I first picked up this book I was thinking “I probably already know most of this stuff but I'm curious”. Man, was I ever wrong. This book was quite excellent and I learned a lot from it. There was one point that the author made that really made me drop my pants; wheat bread has a glycemic index (GI) rating of 72, shredded wheat cereal stands at 67. “So what?” you ask? Well, he also shows that the GI rating of a Mars bar is 68, in other words when it comes to sugar content and effects upon blood sugar levels, eating wheat bread and shredded wheat is comparible to eating a Mars bar! A Snickers bar's GI rating is only 41, “far better than whole grain bread” as he says in the book. And get this, the GI rating of pure table sugar is 59. Allow me to repeat myself; table sugar 59, wheat bread 72. Think about that for a second, ok? Early on in the book the author makes several points concerning the properties of wheat, how it's grown, and how much it has been changed even since the 1950's with genetic modifications and such. He states “Today einkorn, emmer and the original wild and cultivated strains have been replaced by thousands of modern human-bred offspring.” He mentions that geneticist Norman Borlaug was credited with creating a new variety of wheat that was shorter in height and quicker to mature, giving it a shorter growing season, a quicker and easier harvest, a higher yeild and a lower cost of cultivation. It came to be known...
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...Food labels are a panel found on a package of food, which contains a variety of information about the nutritional value of the food item. There are many pieces of information which are standard on most food labels, including serving size, number of calories, grams of fat, included nutrients, and a list of ingredients. This information helps people who are trying to restrict their intake of fat, sodium, sugar, or other ingredients, or those individuals who are trying to get enough of the healthy nutrients such as calcium or Vitamin C. The label provides each item with its approximate percent daily value, generally based on a 2,000-calorie diet. The benefits of have a food label on your product are reading the nutrition facts label and utilizing the information it contains can help you improve your eating habits. People who use the nutrition facts label tend to consume fewer calories; less who don't make use of these labels. Also another added benefit of having food labels is the ability to read the label to adjust your diet to become healthier. My connection: The connection that I have with food labels is a simple one. I love to eat healthy and be able to know what are the ingredients that are in the products (food) that I’m eating. I want to know this because it’s easy to eat food that is unsafe and unhealthy for your body. Food labels are the corner stone to having a healthy diet. I feel that people that do read food labels and understand the ingredients and portions behind...
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...their furry friends. Good health begins with proper nutrition, regardless of price or convenience of acquisition. Please understand that the entire discussion on this page relates to healthy dogs with no kidney, thyroid, food allergy or other abnormal conditions. Also, the content of this page is my opinion regarding the "best" dry food and how to determine what you think is "best" to feed dogs. A big reason why it i is strictly an opinion, there is no single answer to the question "What is the best diet to feed a dog?" Or if there is an answer it is, "It depends". Over the past 37 years I have been examining dogs and cats in my practices I have made it a point to ask the owner "What diet are you feeding?" I have gotten all sorts of answers but in every case I relate the owner's response to what I am seeing in the patient. And over the years my suggestions regarding what to feed have changed. Originally I took the pet food manufacturer's declarations as fact -- that an assortment of "Complete and Balanced" pet foods were perfectly nourishing because that wording was not legally permitted on pet food labels unless feeding trials demonstrated its veracity. I eventually discovered I was mistaken in the belief that any "Complete and Balanced" dog food was appropriate to feed. It was in 1978 that I had an awakening. A number of clients were presenting dogs to me that had coarse hair coats and slightly greasy and flaky skin; and often these dogs (and cats!) had chronic...
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...things about nutrition that I did not know about my own health. The assignments on the diet analysis, obesity, and healthy eating plan helped me learn the most about my nutrition and what I can do to improve it. The assignment that I enjoyed the most was the three-day diet analysis for both week one and week six. These assignments helped me see what I was consuming too much of and what I was not consuming enough of. I found out that I was consuming too much of the mineral sodium, which in my family leads to high blood pressure. I also found out that I am not consuming near enough fruits and vegetables. Both weeks I was hardly eating any fruit at all. Since I have been consuming more fruits and vegetables I find that I am less hungry throughout the day. The discussion question topic that interested me the most was the second discussion question in week six about obesity. We had to visit the American Obesity Awareness website and answer the question of what we learned about obesity from that site that we did not know before. I was completely unaware that obesity can cause cancer. I was amazed at that fact. I was also amazed of the fact that 200 million Americans are either considered obese or overweight, that is a lot of people. The assignment that affected me the most in terms of overall health and nutrition was the healthy eating plan assignment from week one. This assignment helped me see what foods I was missing from my diet and what I needed to take out of my diet. I started...
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...Are sugary drinks really that dangerous? I believe sugary drinks are quite dangerous. In fact, sugary drinks are extremely dangerous, and should be banned. Today sugary drinks are one of the leading causes of obesity and other illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease. This has been an increasingly important issue amongst kids 6-12 years of age. There have been various laws/bans put in place such as the New York City ban of soft drinks that are larger than 16 oz. In the article “Your Favorite Drinks Can Wreck Your Body” by Russ Lloyd, he talks about how more and more states are putting restrictions/bans on sugary drinks do to the dangerous effects they have on people. Although some say sugary drinks aren’t so bad, in “Let us enjoy our sweet drinks in piece” by Evan Cook, he describes just that, however, sugary drinks are extremely dangerous because they can lead to deadly illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, and are also extremely addictive, and are the leading cause of obesity and diabetes in America today....
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...along with the devastating impact it has on our bodies. Today diet is related to four of the top ten causes of death in the United States including: coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer. This is directly linked to a substantial increase in processed foods, pesticides or hormones used to stimulate the production of crops, furthermore the surplus of cheap calories such as sugar can cause...
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... Diet and exercise versus gastric bypass surgery is a controversial topic, however there are benefits and drawbacks to each. Obesity effects more the 60 million Americans and of the 60 million Americans are suffering from medical problems. Here is a fact that people may not know about obesity, “approximately 72.5million American adults are obese.” www.businessinsider.com Everyone knows the hit television show the “Biggest Loser” however, the National Institutes of Health did a study on the contestants from the television show, showing that with the right diet and exercise a person can sustain weight loss. At the beginning of the study “researchers measured body fat, total energy expenditure and the resting metabolic rate- the energy burned during inactive- three times: at the start of the program, again at week six, and again at week thirty, which was at least seventeen weeks after the contestants returned home.” www.nih.gov From the eleven participants they lost an “average weight loss of 128 pounds, also eighty-two percent” www.nih.gov of that was body fat and lean muscle tissue. The article, also states that the participants would be able to sustain their weight loss, and bypass regaining weight by adding different and moderate life changes. For example “twenty minutes of daily vigorous exercise and a twenty percent calorie restriction.” www.nih.gov So if you are on a 2,000 calorie a day diet, you will want decrease it by twenty percent. With diet and exercise...
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...The Skinny on Fad Diets Jessica Johnson DeVry University FAD DIETS You had to stay over at work, pick up the kids, taking them to their various activities, running through the drive through for a quick meal, and begin to unwind on the couch. You could have gone for a walk on your lunch break, hit the gym after work, and made a well-balanced meal for all to eat at the dinner table but with deadlines, a demanding job, and a family to raise with an even crazier schedule; by the end of the day you are beat. However, those extra thirty pounds are just sitting there, waiting to be shed. One day, a thought occurs to seek out a solution, naturally this leads to the internet. A quick Google search and you are now being overloaded with a list of diets, pills, and drinks that will completely change your life around. All without having to rearrange your daily planner to make the life style changes needed for healthy weight loss. Sites with stories of “I lost 20 pounds in the first 2 weeks on diet ABC.” or “Diet XYZ gave me energy to accomplish everything I wanted in the day, while becoming and looking like the person that I want to be.” In other words, the search has brought up results on fad diets. As the schedules of Americans become more and more jam packed, the rate of becoming an unhealthy adult is rising. Currently 69% of Americans are overweight or obese (Jadhav, 2010). Stress from family life, a job, and a tight schedule has a way of causing one to gain weight and having...
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...The Various Effects of a Vegetarian Diet Article One Summary The first article asks two questions “Are vegetarian students more at risk for developing an eating disorder” and “What are first-year college students’ self-identified reasons for adopting a vegetarian lifestyle?” To find the answer to this question Trautmann (2008) set up a correlational study. The subjects included 330 vegetarians versus non-vegetarian first year college students. The subjects made up a convenience sample. The design was correlational and included findings of qualitative data. The independent variables in this study were the vegetarian and non-vegetarian students. The dependent variables were the mean DEBQ and EAT-26 scores. According to the mean DEBQ score there was an increase in the amount of dieting among vegetarians. These findings lead Trautmann (2008) to confirm “that a vegetarian lifestyle among first-year college students may be related to disordered eating behaviors” (p. 3). Assess This research article had some limitations. To start, the study was a convenience sample of first year students from one university. The subjects were also pulled from a very general class which may not truly represent the whole student body at this particular university. The study would have been better if it were executed in a randomized way. This study also uses a broad definition of vegetarianism and some subjects even considered themselves to be semi-vegetarians. Though...
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...At first i just thought that dieting only meant you lost weight, now i know that isn't completely true. not only would a diet of only Double QTR. Pounders with cheese make you gain weight, but if you're a male, it could potentially determine the lifespan of your future sons, son. As a woman, pregnancy could mean changing your diet completely if you really care about your child and know bout this. And in changing your diet, of course that means something further than just stop smoking or drinking so much. When it comes to genes expressing themselves or showing themselves so much, your diet is one of the key factors. As the paper stated, a males’ efficiency or consistency of your eating habits will actually effect your sons offspring through their lifespan. i don't think you get it. The fact that I eat so often means my sons children will live less. now that I know this, every time I eat ill effectively be killing my grandchildren. So no more fun in food anymore. Also (kind of) related to dietary habits is your consumption of products contained inside of polycarbonate plastic. Just drinking a water bottled with this plastic will have an effect on your children. Through the mice it made the offspring yellow like ones eyes during liver failure. through the mice experiment it was shown the offspring birthed from the mothers that were not fed the BPA in the plastic were brown and healthy. As it turns out, if the mother is fed BPA but still fed methyl rich foods, thus giving the fetus...
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...Based on the typical American diet, the American Journal of Preventive Medicine infers that by 2030, 42 percent of Americans will be obese and 11 percent will be critically obese or 100 pounds above the healthful weight (Marlow). With increasing numbers on obesity and diet related health problems, many citizens have called for the regulation of the American diet (Marlow). Reducing Americans’ excessive sodium consumption requires establishing new federal standards for the amount of salt that food manufacturers, restaurants, and food service companies put in their products (National Academy of Sciences). Public-health advocates attending a conference backed by representatives in the pharmaceutical industry, says that the government should classify...
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...Fruits and Vegetables Throughout my adolescence I have been told that fruits and vegetables are essential to a quality health. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” or “It is important to eat your veggies to grow big and strong.” Although these foods contribute to a good health, they also differ in many ways. There are distinct requirements that allow a fruit to be a fruit, and a vegetable to be a vegetable, and the tastes and usage of these foods often bear no resemblance with each other. Before I proceed, I feel it is necessary to clarify any common misconception about fruits and vegetables that were brought up throughout my research. The tomato, thought to be a vegetable by many, as well as myself, is actually not, it is a fruit. The pumpkin and avocado also fall into the category of a fruit ("Did you know fruit facts".) These false impressions result in the mistaken identity in countless fruits and vegetables. A fruit is the ripened ovary of a flowering plant, often sweet and fleshy ("Fruits vs Vegetables"). On most accounts, fruits are foods that are consumed for dessert or as a snack. For example: apple pie, a banana split, or a strawberry shortcake, all of which are desserts with ingredients that require the use of fruit (MarthaStewart.com). The majority of fruits taste rather sweet due to a simple sugar called fructose. However, fructose is not the only element found in fruits. For a fruit to truly be a fruit, it must contain seeds. Some examples of fruits...
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...Andrew Scott ENG 101 Mr. Stafford 5 September 2014 Time-Traveling to a Healthy Diet It is peculiar to think about traveling back in time into the pre industrialized era when everything about the way you lived would be entirely different compared to now. Think about the food alone, and how crops were grown in season, and were stowed for the off season, and back when products did not have a shelf life of weeks, months, and sometimes years. In the reading “Escape from the Western Diet” by Michael Pollan, Pollan states that the way we eat now is much less healthy then the way our ancestors ate. Within this essay I reflect on how I use to be addicted to sugar, how it made me feel, and how that is exactly what the food industry had planned. I also talk about how the new supposed “healthier options” may just be new ideas for a new product line. To conclude, I will discuss how GMOs are put in almost everything we eat just to make it cheaper for the producer, despite the fact that GMOs are horrible for the human body. After reading this article, one will be aware of the proper way to eat, and the benefits of throwing away the western diet. Most people are not aware that sugar can be more addicting than cigarettes, and it is that reason that sugar is put in many foods we eat today. Growing up I was lucky enough to have been passed down my mother’s sweet tooth. Along with that sweet tooth came 3 cavities before I turned 12. It did not take long after that when I was faced...
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