America’s already poor health is declining. A major contributor to this problem is the artificial food additives in processed food. The negative effects of food additives on the human body have been studied for decades and it is time to remove them from our diet. However, it will be difficult since they have infiltrated nearly every food.
We see processed food chock-full of additives everywhere. From billboard advertisements to movies, pop culture is sending a clear message: eating this food is popular. Even with the recent health craze, foods with additives and unhealthy compounds are still well-liked. The reality of the situation is they are composed of little nutrition and the dyes and artificial compounds are harming our bodies. Are health problems worth the popularity?
Some
effects of the additives are:
Asthma
One major problem caused by additives was studied in the 80’s. Preservatives were linked to increase or even cause childhood asthma (Towns). While asthma is also caused by other factors, this link is significant because it shows that the food people consume absolutely can negatively affect their health.
Obesity
Food additives have also been experimentally proven to increase obesity because they hamper the body’s natural ability to produce Leptin, which means that the body can no longer run as efficiently and begins to store excess calories as fat (Ciardi, Christian).
Reasons why people may choose to not change their diets:
Price
Let’s be honest. Organic food is expensive. Often times, people can’t
afford to eat additive free because paying a grocery bill three times as high
is not feasible.
Taste
We love this food. If we didn’t, pizza and cereals would be off the
market and never mentioned. People enjoy eating foods with additives because
they taste good. Taste, however, is not a good enough reason to let America’s
health slide.
Expectation
Change is hard. To completely overhaul a person’s diet requires dedication and an extreme desire to change. Without this, successfully removing food additives is not likely.
Food additives are making people’s health worse. Ultimately, the determining factor is not price or beauty but rather the quality of life that we want to live. It’s better for our health to abstain from harmful food additives which is why we must eat healthier. America is only getting sicker.
It’s time for a change.
Works Cited
It’s time for a change.
Works Cited
Ciardi, Christian; Jenny, Marcel; Tschoner, Alexander; Ueberall, Florian; Patsch, Josef;Pedrini, Michael; Ebenbichler, Christoph; Fuchs, Dietmar “Food additives such as sodium sulphite, sodium benzoate and curcumin inhibit leptin release in lipopolysaccharide-treated murine adipocytes in vitro” British Journal of Nutrition, 2012, Vol.107(6), pp.826-833, 2012. November 1, 2012.
Towns, S J; Mellis, “Role of acetyl salicylic acid and sodium metabisulfite in chronic childhood asthma”. C M Pediatrics, 1984, Vol.73(5), pp.631-7, 1984. November 1, 2012.
Towns, S J; Mellis, “Role of acetyl salicylic acid and sodium metabisulfite in chronic childhood asthma”. C M Pediatrics, 1984, Vol.73(5), pp.631-7, 1984. November 1, 2012.
How do additives cause asthma? Could you be more specific about that? I've never heard that before; that's interesting. I did know about obesity, though. And, I grant you, taste does not excuse having a bad diet; however, if something tastes bad, nobody's going to want to eat it, regardless of how healthy it is.
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting on my post! I agree that I should have been more specific. To respond to how additives can cause asthma, the negative effects of food additives on the body decreases how well the body performs. One visible symptom of this is asthma. Not all asthma is caused by food additives but a significant amount is. Also, I agree! If something tastes bad I'm not going to want to eat it. A lot of times, though, it just involves changing the person's taste. To someone who doesn't like to eat less processed, healthier food, its a shock. I speak from experience and honestly, it took a long time for me to adjust to healthier foods. Now, I find few foods that are healthy that taste bad. This is just a few of my observations. Thanks again!
DeleteI liked your point about how eating healthy can be expensive, but I feel like a study done in 1980 is a little too outdated to back up an argument in a scientific field--especially nutrition. Also, if you are claiming that food additives are causing obesity, be more specific and show how. There are so many factors that play a role in food metabolism and one sentence isn't long enough to prove a point.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right! First, thank you for your comment. I appreciate it. Second, I absolutely agree that a study from the 80's outdated with nutrition, however, in this case I felt that because it deliberately showed that the decrease in the production of leptin does contribute to obesity that it still worked. However, I should have researched more to see if leptin has been found to have other functions that may have minimized this study's results.
DeleteI liked the extensive amount of research that you showed. It is clear that your argument is legitimate and has an actual effect on society. However, I think that rather than just stating the facts, you could possibly propose a realistic solution rather than just saying why society needs to change.
ReplyDeleteI agree with that comment. In reality, it didn't occur to me to propose a solution. I was just thinking about proving that food additives are harmful to the body which is a depressing take if no solution is offered. I was thinking that I could propose a solution about increasing responsibility with our government to regulate these additives. Thank you for pointing this out to me! And thank you for reading my post.
DeleteI love the organization of this post so much! It makes everything really clear and easy to interpret. I think the only thing I might change is to give a few examples of ways we can change and what is already being done to combat bad diets. Fantastic!
ReplyDelete(I also love the way these posts link to each other through the use of that final resolution)
I love examples! I feel like they solidify the claims and provide ethos. Unfortunately, with the word count constraints, I was unable to say everything that I wanted to and the examples got cut. I definitely will include examples for the final paper. Thank you for what you said about my post! And thank you for reading it. And yes, we love the linkage of the posts too!
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