Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It - Book Report/Review Example

Gary Taubes, “Why we get fat and what to do about it After viewing Food Inc it appears there is a common conception, “food can only be unhealthy and cheap or healthy and inexpensive.” Do you believe this statement to be true or false? How would you explain this concept to a potential client who came to you looking to lose weight, with a family of 5 people to feed only on $200 dollars a month in food stamps? What resources might you direct her to? Please come up with three “cheap”, quick healthy meals which use local or readily accessible ingredients and minimal processed foods. Please make sure to include one of each meal -- breakfast, lunch and dinner. This statement is true because there are two parameters on food; whether it is healthy to an individual and whether it is affordable. All traits about food all fall under these two categories generally. There are various resources that can be used to explain to the client about this concept. For one, nutritional books would offer noteworthy information about the nature of food. Magazines, newspapers and nutritional pamphlets are another resource that can be used to provide information about this.Three cheap and health meals for a mother who is operating on a tight schedule are bread and milk for breakfast, rice and peas stew for lunch and mashed potatoes with fruits for dinner. 2) When people are unhealthy because of the food they eat and lack of physical activity -- who is responsible and why? Individuals are responsible for their health if they are old enough; however, parents are responsible for children who are still under their care since these ones are too young to make their own decisions. The government and health institutions are also responsible because it is their role to create awareness to young people on the dangers of unhealthy eating 3) Do you believe there should be a tax on soda and junk food the way there is one on cigarettes? What are some of the reasons for AND against this potential tax? Please describe at least 3 pros and cons of such a tax. Yes. There should be tax on soda and junk food. Advantages of having the tax are that it would generate revenue for the nation, it would enhance our economy since and it would reduce the number of people who buy it unlike when there was no tax. In case there was no tax on these junk material, one would be encouraged to buy more. 4) In reference to Gary Taubes in his book Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It what does he mean when he states, “it is not all about the calories”? Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? What are some potential flaws in making such a generalization? Taubes means that when we eat foods, the ultimate aim is not only getting energy in the form of calories, but it extends into other aspects. For example, when we eat, apart from gaining calories, we should get concerned about potential effects the food has on our bodies. I entirely agree with this generalization because even junk food has calories of energy, but it has far more dangers to the body apart from the calories. The flaw in this statement is that it fails to apply when referring to healthy foods. 5) Do you concur or disagree with Gary Taubes (Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It) that the reason why people get fat is because they eat “too many carbohydrates”? Why or why not? Identify at least two flaws in G. Taubes’ carbohydrate theory. What would make his argument stronger? I disagree with Taubes’ carbohydrate theory since excess carbohydrates do not make a person fat. The issue of being fat is a result of in-balance of calories in the body and is not necessarily as a result of taking carbohydrates in excess. Eating fatty foods is the greatest risk of obesity and being overweight. Excess carbohydrates are normally converted to glucose stores in the body, but excess fat is deposited under the skin as fat reserves which make one fat and obese if this is not controlled. What would make the statement stronger is if the author explained that excess carbohydrates coupled with excessive fat intake make one fat or if the author brought in the issue of inadequate exercise coupled with excessive fatty and carbohydrate food intake. 6) In your own words describe “the lipid theory.” What are the implications on a national level if this theory is in fact false? How would this change the way we practice nutrition? The lipid theory asserts that high fat is associated with higher incidences of cardiovascular diseases. The lipid theory was postulated at around 1850, and its major objective was explaining the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis refers to an accumulation of fatty plaques referred to as atherosclerotic plaques/ atheromas along the walls of blood vessels of the body. When atheromas accumulate along walls of blood vessels, they reduce flow of blood to various organs of the body. Since oxygen is transported in blood to various organs, blockage of blood flow by atheroma reduces oxygen to vital organs of the body. Without adequate oxygen, organs are not able to conduct normal physiological activities, which cause these organs to die in the process of ischemia. If this process persists, the organ will die completely and rot (necrosis). Organs commonly affected by reduced oxygen supply are the heart, kidneys, intestines and the brain. Reduced blood supply to the brain causes cerebral infarcts commonly called strokes while reduced supply to the heart causes myocardial infarcts commonly called heart attacks. These are very deadly conditions which cause death in a matter of minutes unless the condition is corrected. If this theory is false, people would not mind about taking fatty foods since they would not fear developing cardiovascular disorders. This would culminate to poor nutrition amongst people. 7) What does the “China Study” have to teach us about overall wellness and weight management? If anything? In your own words describe at least two health related pros and two cons of the emerging data. The China Study offers scientific evidence that encourages people to alter their diets so that they are able to reduce the risk of developing nutritional disorders; obesity, heart diseases, diabetes and cancer. This study has given a potent connection between diabetes and cancer, and that between heart diseases and nutrition. The report has further discussed about nutritional confusion that has been brought about by government entities, lobby groups and opportunistic scientists. This study is very noteworthy since there were very many successful research projects that brought out many findings that are applicable in health quotas. For example, from the project, approximately 8000 associations have been found between diseases and dietary factors. Apart from showing that nutrition is a cause of disease processes, Dr. Campbell has also shown that nutrition has ability to reduce or reverse the deadly effects of nutrition-derived disorders. One demerit from the study is that, the author has critiqued nutritional works by other authors, which is likely to bring confusion concerning nutritional disorders because every author is coming up with research and statistical evidence. Another con of the study is that the values are a bit exaggerated. For example, Dr Campbell has talked about 8000 associations been diseases and dietary factors, but this seems a bit exaggerated. 8) Should healthy eating be a right, a responsibility or a privilege and why? Healthy eating is every child’s right and a responsibility of every parent to ensure that children feed in a healthy manner. It is a right because, a child needs good care from the parent, while it is a responsibility in that, parents are expected to provide healthy foods to their children. Parents who do not mind about healthy eating will predispose their children to nutritional diseases, which are difficult and expensive to manage. 9) What is the movie maker’s overall objective in the documentary Fat Head? Do you feel like he succeeds? Why or why not? Identify at least two things he could do to make his message stronger The documentary Fat head’s major objective was to refute earlier studies and findings. For one, it refutes the award winning documentary Supersize Me and the lipid hypothesis that had been postulated in 1850 to describe the origin of atherosclerosis. The initial aspect of the documentary talks about the ways in which the film Supersize Me has questionable credibility. The second part of the documentary is what concerns many nutritionists as it critiques the lipid hypothesis. The US government has outlined various nutritional requirements based on the lipid theory, but Fat Head claims that the theory has no scientific basis. The documentary claims that there has never been a study that links cardiovascular disease to increased fat diet. Many doctors in the film have given this concept support by asserting that research on heart disease implicates inflammatory processes as the main causes of heart diseases but not fatty diets. However much these claims are controversial, the documentary, Fat Head, has succeeded in convincing the audience due to the presence of scientific studies that have offered support on the issue. The author, Tom has conducted a personal experiment that has proved his claims right, and together with the evidence offered by other doctors, the message in the documentary is considered effective. However, this message would have been made stronger if the Lipid Hypothesis was disapproved by scientific evidence and not theoretically. Besides, Tom would have taken time to disapprove findings by many scientists that have determined that high fat intake predisposes one to heart conditions. 10) If you were a dietitian or a nutritionist choosing to go into weight management counseling identify three of the most challenging obstacles you feel you will be faced with. Please describe these issues and how you would deal with them in your practice The first challenge is that some people seeking nutritional help are rigid, implying that they will be difficult to educate concerning the negative effects of unhealthy eating habits. In order to deal with this, I would be persistent in my counseling so that affected people are changed for the better completely. Another challenge is that there are many nutritionists around who give conflicting advice to clients on health habits. As a result of this, some clients would challenge some of my advice that I would offer. In order to prevent these challenges, I would liaise with most nutritionists so that I would ensure that my advice is in tandem with that of other nutritionists. Thirdly, I would face challenges due to many clients not being able to be compliant to medication and not being able to come for regular visits. This would distort treatment programs of clients. In order to ensure that clients are compliant to medication and attend regular visits, I would offer them enough education on the dangers of getting irregular treatment and counseling. Works Cited Gregson, Susan R. Healthy Eating. Minnesota: Capstone Press, 2010. Print Read More