Western Diet Vs Vegan Diet Analysis

The Western diet that Michael Pollan talks about is made up of high saturated fats, refined carbohydrates, and processed meat. He says, “…the scientists who blame our health problems on deficiencies of these micronutrients

Big businesses have worked hard to hide the reality of where your food comes from. Throughout the years, advertisements and media have continually stressed the importance of eating meat, dairy, and eggs for maximum health. For example, the dairy industry has conditioned our society with advertising to believe that milk “forms strong bones” and is recommended as “part of a healthy diet,” yet the United States has the highest rate for bone diseases in the world. The phrase “you are what you eat” really does apply to the majority of Americans. Not only is meat, dairy, and eggs harmful to people, prepackaged and manufactured goods could also be considered harmful for humans, as they too carry harmful substances which our bodies cannot process. According to the President of the Physicians committee responsible for medicine, Dr. Neal Barnard states in his book, The Power of Your Plate, he states that “early humans had diets very much like other great apes, which is to say a largely plant-based diet, drawing on foods we can pick with our hands” (Freston). However, due to lack of knowledge, we, for the most part, believed what we see and hear and pass it on to our children, thus creating “traditions” and an endless monopoly for major food corporations. On another note, a diet that consists of mainly fruits and vegetables has been scientifically proven to reduce health complications. A review by “Sabaté and Wien (2010) shows that plant based diets are associated with a lower body mass index (BMI) and lower prevalence of obesity in adults and children” (Dyett). This further proves that a plant-based diet, or veganism, can be enjoyed by people of all ages including elderly, infants, and sportspersons. With that being said, becoming

The western diet exists as a way of life for most Americans. The typical western diet is full of chemicals and unknown ingredients. Today it is not viewed as the most beneficial diet for humans to consume. Those who live on the western diet are exploding with health concerns. Some major health problems range from type two diabetes, high cholesterol, to being overweight. These health concerns are growing. Today, foods have many unknown ingredients and just really are not food. Michael Pollan discusses these issues in his book titled In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. Pollans’ goal from this book is to inform people, mainly the eaters of the western diet, what this diet is and what it contains. He furthers his argument on

This is how the modern American diet, regardless of age, is portrayed in the entire film. This diet will, of course, promote weight gain through excessive calories. This diet will promote diabetes through insulin resistance, and the high cholesterol from a large amount of animal fat will promote heart disease. The goal of the movie is to support a vegan, whole foods diet. My problem with the film is that it only discusses diet in terms of extremes. The patients represented in the film all had terrible habits and practiced no moderation in terms of food intake, eating high amounts of salt, meat, dairy, and few fresh foods. When switching to a completely plant-based diet without processed foods, many health problems were reversed and could be managed through diet alone. The film does not discuss several issues that can accompany a diet in which no animal foods are consumed: active B12 deficiency, iron intake, vitamin D consumption and synthesis, and sources of essential fatty acids EPA and DHA. The recommended diet by the American Dietetics Association includes modest amounts of meat, dairy and animal fats, and every single patient in the film exceeded intakes of those foods. What isn’t covered in the film is the health of individuals that consume a diet that adheres to recommendations, and I feel that this film fails to address the effects of animal

Nutrients and diet play a big role in people’s health and condition. Poor diet and frequent exposure to certain nutrients leads one’s health vulnerable to various diseases or abnormalities. Cancer is the continuous abnormal cell division, which causes countless people’s lives every year. There isn’t only one factor triggering the development of cancer, but several factors together play a big role in the development of this deadly illness. According to several studies done, red meat and processed meat is one of the contributors to this illness, but how does the most consumed type of meat in the United States cause cancer? Research has shown different types of cancer developments linked to the consumption of red meat and processed red meat, the kinds of red meat involved in this association, and the carcinogens present in red meat which, makes it toxic.

Remember Morgan Spurlock 's cascading series of health problems as he got deeper into his one-month experiment of eating nothing but fast food in "Super Size Me"? Much of his trouble could be attributed to two things: the high levels of saturated fat and cholesterol found in hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, milkshakes and more. In fact, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), all the saturated fat and cholesterol in the animal products we eat can be blamed for about 63,000 fatal heart attacks each year in the U.S. alone. Bottom line: Americans are eating way more meat, eggs and dairy than we once did, and it 's showing in our health ... or lack thereof. In 1909, for example, according to the CSPI 's

Thesis: Despite the numerous factors such as genetic mutations, smoking, radiation, viruses, cancer-causing chemicals known as carcinogens, hormones, and lifestyle choices, today’s main culprit of many types of cancers is diet, specifically the American or Western diet which is characterized by a high intake of red meat, refined sugars, and saturated fat.

The two diets I have chosen to compare are the DASH diet and the vegan diet. I choose to compare these two diets to compare because the DASH diet is the #1 rated “Best Diet” and the Vegan diet is a diet that I am personally considering committing to. The DASH diet claims to be the best diet in lowering blood pressure and maintaining a healthy weight. The DASH diet ranks #1 in “Best Diets Overall”, #1 in “Best Diabetes Diets” and #1 in “Best Diets for Healthy Eating”. The Vegan diet claims to help with weight loss and the prevention of many diseases. The Vegan diet is rated #16 in “Best Diets Overall”, #2 in “Best Diabetes Diets”, and #7 in “Best Plant-Based Diets”.

Americans stick to their traditional diets that have too many calories and too much fat (especially saturated fat), cholesterol, and sodium (Higgins). These drawbacks of American food habits can be reduced if people choose to reduce their intake of meat or give up eating meat altogether. Vegetarian and vegan diets have been found to be healthier by the American Dietetic Association that acknowledged the health value and nutritional adequacy of vegetarian diets. The effect of meat consumption upon the origin of cancer has not been studied in detail, but statistics found in different studies show that certain food consumption can reduce the risk of cancer greatly by eating less meat and related products, and more vegetarian friendly substitutes. Most cancer researchers report that vegetarianism reduces the risk of cancer. Consumption of meat raises the risk of breast cancer for women who eat meat daily compared to less than once a week by 3.8 times (Vegsource.com). Men who consume meat, eggs and other animal foods daily have an increased risk of prostate cancer by 3.6 times as opposed to men who are on a vegetarian diet. Even frequent consumption of eggs and/or butter can lead to greater risk of developing cancer as opposed to those who have totally given up animal products. These people are known as vegans. They are pretty similar to vegetarians in the fact

A vegan diet excludes all animal products, including eggs, dairy, beeswax and honey. Some vegans also avoid animal products such as leather (and possibly silk) for clothing and goose-fat for shoe polish.1

Being a Vegans mean not eating meat, fish, or poultry plus not using other animal products and by-products such as eggs, dairy products, honey, leather, fur, silk, wool, cosmetics, and soaps derived from animal products.

“Based on the three sources, what type of eating plan would you be most likely to follow or encourage others to follow?” Based on the three sources I would be most likely to follow or encourage others to would be the Vegan Diet. I chose the vegan diet because referring to source A, a vegan diet “Helps in prevention of chronic diseases” You are still able to meet all nutritional requirements. In a vegan diet you are not aloud to eat meat of anything that came from an animal. You are still able to eat all veggies which still give you your nutrition you need.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death and it is believed that ten percent of this is caused by obesity, a poor diet, lack of physical activity and alcohol consumption. There is a belief that meat and red meat have a correlation to this percent. Though this might correlate more how the meat is prepared or due to intake of high-fats diet and not the meat itself. However this can be countered by modifying the fat composition and reducing the creation of heterocyclic amines. (Ferguson 308)

“Milk money is misspent money,” (qtd. in Wells). According to various studies, facts, and science, this statement may be very accurate. Many Americans are pressured by dairy industries and corporations to consume more dairy as it supposedly improves bone health. As a result, families, women, and grade school students are consuming significant amounts of dairy every day. However, few individuals realize how harmful and unnecessary dairy actually is in the human diet. Dairy products should not be consumed because of the negative effects it has on health and the dairy industry mistreats their animals.

Veganism is more of a lifestyle or a way of living and less like a diet. People who are vegan, eliminate all animal products from their daily lives, they use no soaps that are made from animal cruelty, consume no dairy products, fish, or even honey. Vegans won’t consume or use anything produced by any living thing in the animal kingdom. Veganism comes with many advantages, for example, it can help to lower cholesterol. A study showed that people with Type 2 diabetes who began a vegan diet lowered their LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol by about 20 percent. Another example is that vegans have increased antioxidant intake. Not eating animal