In the opening pages of his novel, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, Michael Polan presents strong arguments regarding the health of humans based on the food that they eat. Polan states that the American society is straying away from the food from which they used to eat (organic, whole) and are beginning to consume an insurmountable amount of processed and almost “fake food”. He explains that much of the real food we grew up consuming is now being replaced by artificial substitutes that will prove to be detrimental to our health.
Throughout the first chapter, Polan refers to the term Nutrionism. He says Nutrionism is merely a trend in which scientists and food makers try to take out unhealthy products such as cholesterol and saturated fat, and replace them with polyunsaturated fats and vitamins. As soon as we find out some artificial substances are actually not beneficial to us, they are quickly substituted by another.
Personally, I feel that the best point that Polan made was the more food either holds advertisements on the labels or holds claims about its ingredients are the foods we should stay away from. Real food does not need to claim that it’s low in fat because it is what it is, and not artificially processed to lower the fat. Polan's argument is strongly defended in this article as it shows the danger of many of the foods in our own kitchen. Before America’s obsession with dieting and low fat diets, the majority of people were healthy in just eating actually food. Now we have more unhealthy people then ever and yet we still wonder why in countries such as France in which the majority of people don’t carry low fat diets are healthier than us.
Throughout the first chapter, Polan refers to the term Nutrionism. He says Nutrionism is merely a trend in which scientists and food makers try to take out unhealthy products such as cholesterol and saturated fat, and replace them with polyunsaturated fats and vitamins. As soon as we find out some artificial substances are actually not beneficial to us, they are quickly substituted by another.
Personally, I feel that the best point that Polan made was the more food either holds advertisements on the labels or holds claims about its ingredients are the foods we should stay away from. Real food does not need to claim that it’s low in fat because it is what it is, and not artificially processed to lower the fat. Polan's argument is strongly defended in this article as it shows the danger of many of the foods in our own kitchen. Before America’s obsession with dieting and low fat diets, the majority of people were healthy in just eating actually food. Now we have more unhealthy people then ever and yet we still wonder why in countries such as France in which the majority of people don’t carry low fat diets are healthier than us.
