Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think

Pollan defines the American problem as “unhealthy people obsessed by the idea of eating healthily.” (Pg. 3) The vast majority of consumers in our society are ones that envision themselves as striving towards a healthy lifestyle, yet many of these consumers don’t realize that in their attempts at eating healthy they are on a slow decline. A large sum of the population garners their information on which foods to eat from their daily news sources, trying new fad diets and picking up any food that Buzzfeed or the Huffington Post tells them will better their health (Pg. 1). This behavior in turn leaves those desperate for a slimmer and healthier bodies utterly confused and desolate.

In “Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food” by Michael Moss is about the rising numbers of obesity in both adults and children throughout the United States. On the Evening of April 8, 1999, some of the biggest food industries CEO’s ad company presidents come together for a rare, private meeting. Discussing the emerging obesity epidemic and how they should deal with it. Big time companies food is lacking the nutrients that a person needs and is more concentrated on how to make it more desired. Keeping the customers coming for more. While the industries are gaining a profit, the customers are gaining a big belly.

As a culture and as individuals, we no longer seem to know what we should and should not eat. When the old guides of culture and national cuisine and our mothers’ advice no longer seem to operate, the omnivore’s dilemma returns and you find yourself where we do today—utterly bewildered and conflicted about one of the most basic questions of human life: What should I eat? We’re buffeted by contradictory dietary advice: cut down on fats one decade, cut down on carbs the next. Every day’s newspaper brings news of another ideal diet, wonder-nutrient, or poison in the food chain. Hydrogenated vegetable oils go from being the modern alternatives to butter to a public health threat, just like that. Food marketers bombard us with messages that this or that food is “heart healthy” or is “part of a nutritious meal”. Without a stable culture of food to guide us, the omnivore’s dilemma has returned with a vengeance. We listen to scientists, to government guidelines, to package labels—to anything but our common sense and traditions. The most pleasurable of activities—eating—has become heavy with anxiety. The irony is, the more we worry about what we eat, the less healthy and fatter we seem to become.

Healthy, unhealthy, good food, bad food, fat, skinny, diet, weight: all these words have been used to define what society views as the key to a balanced or unbalanced life. In the essay, Food for Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating, Mary Maxfield takes a look into the stigma of eating habits, health, and dieting in western society. Maxfield supports her claims by analyzing and refuting Michael Pollan’s essay, Escape from the Western Diet. Although it is common knowledge that many people struggle to understand what is essentially “healthy” and “unhealthy”, there are many experts in the field of nutrition that claim to have the key to a perfect diet. Maxfield ultimately disclaims these ideas by bringing to light information that

There are more ways to shun obesity. Michael Pollan, who wrote “Escape from the western diet”, claims that the fast food industry is one of the main reasons why people struggle with their health. He believes that the processed food we consume gives us harmful deceases. Pollan urges us to listen to his words to avoid the western diet, he preaches that we should start eating healthier and to put more time and effort when it comes to buying food. Pollan provides us with his rules as well and claims that it will help us plot our way out of the western diet. Also, Pollan informs us that when it to the intake we tend to over eat, thus it becomes a huge threat to our health. The government has also made an attempt to put a stop to obesity by inverting an array of food options. By focusing on the main causes of obesity, Pollan overlooks the deeper problem of the lack of insufficient information, thus he leaves us with a lot of question marks .

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.

Michael Moss uses pathos to tell readers why food companies are to blame for the obesity in America. He says, “People bought what they liked, and they liked what taste good.” Looking at this quote tells us someone liking the food because of the taste will cause over eating. People have to know when to stop overeating because it will cause weight gain in the future. Moss told readers, “ The public and food companies have know for decades now that sugary,

I would then go on to the different reasons why people overeat and ask the client which one(s) they identify with and why, as the majority of people will be able to identify with at least one of them. One such reason is eating to lessen unpleasant experiences. This is something we learn from an early age, such as getting something sweet from a parent when we are in pain. In later life we may be taken for meals out to cheer us up or be brought 'comfort' food such as chocolate and ice-cream after a break up, for example (Chrysalis, Module Six). Eating to get attention and gain authority is another reason why people may overeat. Larger people may feel like they are more important and command attention, though not always positively. They may be for example, making a point of telling people how much they are eating at a party, gaining negative attention in replacement of the harder to achieve positive attention. People may also overeat for reward and entertainment, such as receiving a treat food for completing chores as a child, or giving and receiving chocolates and wine on special occasions later in life. However, treats are now common place in households and not necessarily used for special occasions. People can also use food for fear, overeating on unhealthy foods to help them deal with their fear.

Whether or not a person wants a burger and french-fries’ or a salad from the salad bar, the decision should be up to him/her. Two articles share views on food, “What You Eat Is Your Business” by Radley Balko and “Junking Junk Food” by Judith Warner. These two authors wrote articles about how they felt about food and how it’s related to obesity. However, Radley Balko would not approve of Judith Warner’s views on food for the reason that the two authors have different viewpoints on the aspect of the government helping people to make better food choices. Warner and Balko also has different views on the ideas which are that eating is a psychological matter; and eating healthy should be a personal matter.

David H. Freedman, a consulting editor for John Hopkins and author of several books, writes in “How Junk food can End Obesity” about the dangers of ruling out Fast Food as a way to decrease obesity in society. He argues that using nutrients to gauge the healthiness of a food is an adequate way to increase health in society, and that most “healthy” foods contain a lot of unhealthy ingredients that do not promote health. He also advocates small changes of about 50-100 calories in meals to encourage people to stay on their diets and promote long-term weight loss. He also points out the severe monetary difference between health foods and fast food. He ultimately wants to promote using the forum of food in society to decrease obesity in society, rather than making the large leap from junk food to whole, natural foods.

In America’s society today, Individuals are taking the blame off of themselves and shifting it onto the food industry. The food industry does indeed put up a very tempting environment for Americans, targeting unhealthy choices, but nevertheless, it is up to the customer as to what they spend their money on. Even with attempted changes in nutrition within the food industry, most people take no interest in it. But, when someone is motivated, results of a healthier lifestyle is shown in multiple ways. Americans need to realize that dedication can overcome temptation and not only lower numbers on the scale, but better their overall

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Michael Pollan, one of Time magazine’s top 100 Most Influential People in 2010 and author of “Escape from the Western Diet”, proposes these three rules to live a healthier life. Pollan strongly believes that the Western diet is responsible for Western Diseases. Throughout the excerpt, he explains how the epidemic of obesity is caused by the business of food and medical industries, the degree of food that is processed, and how much time and effort is put into developing a well-balanced diet.

On average, Americans eat 2,000 pounds of food every year, each. The question posed by the scientists of the study I read about was: “Why Americans Eat What They Do: Taste, Nutrition, Cost, Convenience, and Weight Control Concerns as Influences on Food Consumption?” I chose this study because I was/am interested in why Americans eat what they do. Unfortunately, I could not find a popular account linked to this scientific study, so this is purely based off of the study.

If one continually eats unhealthy foods, they can quickly become overweight. Moreover, this has become such a recurring problem in America that according to the National Institutes of Health, compulsive eating has led to obesity for approximately 35.7% of Americans. This number represents over one-third of the entire U.S population and will continue to grow unless it is addressed. In addition, it is critical that Americans learn to moderate their junk food intake to prevent the contraction of serious health issues. Sweenie states that, “Food high in salt, sugar, fat or calories and low nutrient content...provide suboptimal nutrition with excessive fat, sugar, or sodium per kcal. Such poor diets can slow growth, promote obesity; sow the seeds of diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cardiac problems, and osteoporosis.” These are exceptionally serious diseases that can often result in a severely hindered lifestyle or even death. In order to avoid these exceptionally undesirable outcomes, one must always remain aware of their daily junk food consumption. In Kirkey’s article, Paul Kenny, an associate professor at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida, states that, "It's incumbent upon people to make sure that they're more respectful and aware of what they're eating. Just be aware that there are dangers and risks associated. Enjoy (high-fat) food, but make sure it's occasionally and

Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It published by Gary Taubes is a controversial 217 page look at the obesity epidemic plaguing the world. Taubes spends the entirety of the report analyzing the common myths of weight gain and weight loss. Taubes himself is a correspondent to Science magazine, has had works published in the New York Times, and is an investigator of health policy research at the University of California’s School of Public Health.