In Defense of Food
(intro)Pollan's manifesto begins with three sentences of words. What are those words and what do they mean?
"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." -meaning: to eat a plant based diet that is nutritious and that is what we should eat to be healthy -eat food: eat food that is real and fresh, not a product of food science -not too much: have portion control, don't be distracted when eating -mostly plants: try to reduce intake of red meats and eat more fresh produce/ plants
(pg.50-53) What changes occurred in American's diets of a result of nutritionism/lipid theories? How did American's health change during the same period? What is Pollan's conclusion to this correlation
-Americans got really overweight on their new low-fat diets which weren't really low-fat. -balanced diet from fats to carbs, never cut down on consumption of fat, replaced saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats and trans fats, basically ate a lot more carbs -basically what he concludes is "eat more low-fat foods", the ideology offers a respectable reasoning for creating and marketing all manner of new processed foods and permission for people to eat them, he says if a product is healthy by design and official sanction, then eating lots of it must be healthy too.
(pg.36-40) Pollan writes nutritionalism is good for the food business. But is it good for us?(pg.40) How is it good for business? How does Pollan answer the question of is it good for us? What examples does he cite to support his claim?
-Pollan uses the fact the benefits of a low-fat diet do not really exist to answer the question. -It is good for business because people will buy foods that say low-fat etc -His example is based from Harvard School of Public Health that states that there is little to link between fat intake and heart disease. -ironically this same group had earlier encouraged people to reduce saturated fat intake by switching from butter to margarine _study also admitted that the low-fat campaign has been based on little scientific research and may have cause health consequences in return.
(intro)Pollan's argument is made in three parts- what are the topics of each and describe each briefly
-The Age of nutritionism: talks about how food has been replaced by nutrients and the different periods of times that there were many different health guidelines and strategies -The Western Diet and the Diseases of Civilization: -Getting over nutritionism:
(pg. 19-27) (1)Who is Liebig? (2)What was his scientific theory? (3)What do we know today that is correct and incorrect about his theory? (4)How did his theory change US food laws in the 70s and 80s?
-great German scientist, one of the founders of organic chemistry (identified macronutrients in soil: nitrogen(N), phosphorus(P), potassium(K). he discovered the rule of minerals. -THEORY: theory of metabolism, explained life strictly in terms of a small handful of chemical nutrients -Correct/ incorrect: -formula lacked vitamins or essential fats and amino acids -missing essential ingredients present in fresh plant foods -let to discovery of the first set of micronutrients -FOOD LAWS CHANGE: In Jan. 1977 American Heart Association set guidelines: cut down consumption of red meats and dairy
(pg.40-50)Define: lipid, triglycerides, hydrogenated oils, cholesterol, transfats, and saturated fats How are those fats tied to CHD? Why does Pollan believe fats aren't all bad?
-lipid: any of a class of organic compounds that are fatty acids or their derivatives and are insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents. They include many natural oils, waxes, and steroids. -triglycerides: an ester formed from glycerol and three fatty acid groups -hydrogenated oils: oils charged with/ combined with hydrogen -cholesterol: a compound of the sterol type found in most body tissues -transfats: an unsaturated fatty acid of a type -saturated fats: fat containing the greatest possible number of hydrogen atoms, and so having no carbon-carbon double or triple bonds. -CHD- The lipid hypothesis was saying that lipids, cholesterol, and saturated fats caused CHD (coronary heart disease). only to find out that trans fats which is produced when making margarine, increased the risk of heart disease because it increases triglycerides. pollan- he believes that not all fats are bad because fats make up 60% of the brain, it makes up the structure of our cell membranes and vitamins A and E can't pass rough intestinal walls without fats.
(pg.58-78) Pollan writes that nutrition science often treats nutrient consumption as "a simple mechanistic view of that transaction" (pg. 63) In what ways does he argue that food consumption is much more complex? What does he mean by reductive science? What are 'confounding factors'?
-many people have different heritages and genetic makeups so some people and some civilizations/societies break down certain foods better than others. the digestive track has roughly as many neurons as the spinal column which suggests that there is more going on in the digestive system than simply the breakdown of food into chemicals. -reductive science- to take one scientific fact and over focus on it resulting in other facts being overlooked -factors that can prevent the outcome that you want, something that throws off your experiment
(pg.32-36) How is margarine used as an example of nutritionalism marketing and food regulations in the U.S. dot? What other foods went through similar transformations?
-margarine is used in the way that is similar in taste and appearance to butter but some of butter's bad nutrients have been replaced with nutrients that are supposedly better for your health -this situation has also been used in other food products such as bacon bits and yogurt
(pg. 27-32)Define nutrition. Define whole food. Who coined the term? Did he think nutrition was a good thing? What are its weaknesses?
-nutrition: food/nourishment (science), the process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for health and growth -nutritionism: refers to the fact that the contemporary understanding of nutrition is more like an ideology than a science. -whole food: food that has been processed or refined as little as possible, is free from additives or other artificial substances -Gyorgy Scrinis coined the term nutritionism - he was against nutritionism and believed that foods shouldn't be looked at by what they are made of. -weakness: People pay more for food cause they make processed foods seem healthier than whole foods even if they are not
(pg.102-103) Explain Pollan's idea of "relationships" vs "object" when it comes to food. (paragraph two on pg 103) (pg 104-105) How do artificial foods complicate our ability to sense the quality and nutrients of food.
-relationships: relationships among species is called the food web, and it is basically animals and plants interacting and species eating others which connects them all and the plants go through mutual adaptation which makes food more nutritious. -object: -we use our sense to know if food is good or ripe but then when there is artificial flavors or synthetic sweeteners it messes with our senses and we are not able to truly know what we are eating.
(pg.78-81) What are some problems of data collection in nutrition studies according to Pollan?
-studies are confusing people and making them have anxiety about eating. food eaters may rely too much on science and research. remember that while nutritionism has its roots in a scientific approach, it is important to remember that it is not a science but an ideology and that the food industry, journalism and government bear just as much responsibility for its conquest of our minds and diets -diets can easily change when peole get sick, -may not b accurate, - when testers do things wrong it throws off the results
(pg.85) What is "syndrome X"? (pg.85-88) Discuss the experiment the Aborigines participated in. How many of them participated? Why? What were their health concerns? Were they solved? What was the outcome of the experiments?
-syndrome x is large amounts of refined carbohydrates in the diet combined with a sedentary lifestyle, had disordered the intricate system by which the insulin hormone regulates the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats in the body. -relying only on foods they gathered and hunted for 7 weeks -aborigines experiment: 10 middle-aged overweight diabetic aborigines participated. -why: to see if temporarily reversing the process of westernization they had undergone might also reverse their health problems. -concerns:they all had type 2 diabetes, signs of insulin resistance, and elevated levels of triglycerides in the blood-a risk factor for heart disease. - they all had lost an average 18 pounds, blood pressure dropped, triglycerides levels had fallen to normal range, had more omega-3s, -all of the metabolic abnormalities of type 2 diabetes were either greatly improved or normalized.
(pg.78-81) What are Pollan's conclusions about the current state of American nutrition/eating habits?
-that many people have an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy and that people are more confused that ever about what to eat because of all of the different and unclear studies -we need a new way to think about eating
(pg. 53-58) Pollan theorizes that Americans have separated eating from pleasure and scientific eating became part of our culture . What examples does he give to support this idea?
-that taste is not a true guide to what should be eaten; that one should not simply eat what one enjoys; that the important components of food cannot be seen or tasted, but are discernible only in scientific laboratories; and that experimental science has produced rules of nutrition which will prevent illness and encourage longevity. basically, eating is rushed and not savored.
(pg. 98) What does the quality of soil have to do with the quality and richness of vitamins in our food? What was the common denominator of healthy diets according to Price?
-the quality of soil helps to determine the amount of nutrients in our soil. he found that the foods grown in the better soil had much higher levels of vitamins and nutrients. -Price believed that the quality of soil was the key to health
pt.1 (pg.107) Why does Pollan consider refined flour the first fast food? (pg.108-109) Explain the problems with flour before and after it transitioned to white flour? pt.2 What is the simplification of foods, soil, etc. overlooking according to Pollan? What four crops account for two-thirds of the calories we eat? (pg. 114) pt.3 What are three nutrients that have declined in the U.S from the 1950s till now? What are Pollan's thoughts on the achievements of industrial agriculture and it's affect of the western diet? (pg. 118) pt.4 What are the grains we have come to rely on exceptionally efficient at? What do you think is its translation to the agriculture industry and its ability to produce mass amounts of food?(pg. 124) pt.5 (pg. 133) How does Pollan describe the over taking of 'nutritionalism' by the industry? Decribe his connection between culture and food. Pollan discuses problems why 'getting used to' the western diet is a faulty plan. What does he say? Do you agree or disagree? why?
-when more surface area is exposed to digestive enzymes, the quicker the starches turn to glucose. food processors try to find ways to deliver glucose more efficiently. it becomes a by-product of precessing food for other reasons. -over looking importance of biological activity - corn, soy beans, wheat, and rice -vitamin c, iron, and calcium -it has done a good job of pulling calories from the ground, we are getting more quantity and less quality from our foods. foods have less nutritional value than the used to. more unhealthy food one eats the more they want leaving them looking for the missing nutrients. -these grains are really efficient at transforming sunlight, fertilizer, air, and water into macronutrients- carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. -they can profitably converted into meat, dairy, and processed foods of every description. -its underlining traditional food cultures everywhere. -culture guided people on what to eat and now the we don't have culture we are without a steady guidance. -its a problem because relying on science and journalism and government and marketing to decide what to eat, confuses us and the industries are just there to make money and not help us eat better - getting used to it won't work because it causes so many health problems. i agree because it seems to be confusing people a bunch.
(pg.139-140) Pollan discusses the relationship of three theories. What are they and how do they relate to each other? (pg. 140) Pollan also writes about scientists becoming "allied" with one theory of thought. How can this compromise scientific inquiry? Can it be beneficial to be focused more specifically? How? How does this translate to everyday thinking, socially, sand academically?
3 theories: lipid hypothesis, carbohydrate hypothesis, neolipid hypothesis. -