Nutrition Perepectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowing and understanding what you need to keep your body safe, healthy, and active is something we should all be aware of. That’s why learning about nutrition is very important. Nutrition doesn’t just help us learn what to eat and what not to eat. It helps us understand why we should put certain things into our bodies. We need certain things in order to keep our bodies healthy and running properly. There are six essential nutrients we need to keep our bodies functioning and healthy—fats, carbohydrates, proteins, water, vitamins, and minerals. These nutrients are what we need to keep our bodies healthy and functioning. Having a basic understanding of essential nutrients will also help out in our food choices. Choosing a food based on what nutrients you are getting from it and how it is helping your body is very important. For example, picking an apple over a cookie is a good nutrition choice because the apple will do more good for your body than the cookie.
Doctors, scientists, and researchers are constantly finding out new information about the human body and the essential nutrients we put into it. The more we find out about the food industry and food itself, we learn what we should and shouldn’t be putting into our bodies. Medical advancements are also important in understanding how the human body works and reacts to certain drugs and foods. The more we can learn about the human body, food industries, medical industry, and human nutrition the healthier and better off we will be.
The food industry has a very large impact on our food choices. This is because the food industry spends billions of dollars every year marketing their food to us. McDonald's, for example, has marketing and advertisements, everyone. We see McDonalds on tv, on billboards, online, on social media, etc. However, the fast food industry spends the most money on marketing, therefore, we are currently seeing an obesity epidemic in America. America is one of the fattest countries in the world. This has to do a lot with the fast food industry taking over locations and dominating in marketing campaigns. Many Americans eat fast food and unhealthy food in general that it’s causing many Americans to do develop deadly health related diseases. Our environment is also at risk due to the production of meat and junk food items. The toxic chemicals from factories and water wastage from animal farms are negatively impacting our environment.
Nutrient and diet trends have been around for ages. Everything from the vinegar and water diet to the grapefruit diet to the low carb diet. My personal favorite is the grapefruit diet. The grapefruit diet consists of eating a grapefruit or grapefruit juice at every meal whilst eating less than 1,000 calories a day. This is clearly a negative diet considering no one should eat that little a day. The low carb diet, however, is a little better. There is no calorie restriction, for the most part, just cutting down on carbohydrates. Although, some people completely cut out carbohydrates on this diet and that’s not good considering it is an essential nutrient. There are two nutrient based diets that I think many people should follow—Vegan or Vegetarian. These two diets are good for our environment and good for our bodies. While these diets sometimes get a negative reputation, there are many benefits if you go vegan or vegetarian. For example, raising animals for food consumption uses about half of all the water in America. If we didn’t eat meat we wouldn’t be wasting half of our water.
Just like in our bodies, there are good and bad microorganisms in food production. For example, yeast is a microorganism essential in making bread. However, microorganisms like Salmonella Enteritis that can be found in eggs is very bad for your body. Our bodies and health are the same way. There are microorganisms the boost our immune system and some that weaken our immune system.
Diet and nutrient are very important to maintaining a long and healthy life. If you want to maintain your weight, it’s important to understand what you're putting into your body whilst at the same time being physically active. Food availability can be a problem for those wanting a healthy lifestyle but don’t have the access or means to it. If you don’t have access to healthy foods, it can be hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Living a healthy lifestyle also helps with disease prevention. The healthier you are, the less likely you are to get a disease.
Supersize Me
I have chosen the documentary Supersize Me for my Nutrition Perspectives Research Paper. Supersize Me is a 2004 Sundance Film Festival documentary written and directed by Morgan Spurlock. I chose this documentary not only because it seemed the most interesting to me but because I knew I would learn a lot about nutrition and the obesity epidemic in America. This documentary follows Morgan’s fast food journey while eating at McDonalds. Morgan wanted to perform an experiment to see what would happen to his body if he only ate McDonalds’ food for an entire month. However, there were rules. Rule number one was he could only eat non-McDonald’s food if it could be found on the McDonald’s menu. For example, he could get a Coke at the grocery store because it could be found on the McDonalds’ menu. Rule number two was if the cashier asked him if he wanted to supersize his meal, he would have to. Rule number three was he had to eat three square meals a day all coming from McDonalds. Rule number four was he had to eat everything on the menu at least once.
The Facts
Morgan Spurlock is an American documentary filmmaker and television producer. He doesn’t have a nutrition background per say, but he is well informed about nutrition and is a very healthy individual. However, his girlfriend is a vegan chef so I believe he knows a lot about health and nutrition because of his girlfriend. Morgan, living in New York at the time, realized he passed four McDonalds on his way to work everyday. This made Morgan do some research about McDonalds in the Manhattan area. He discovered there are 83 McDonalds in Manhattan (see Supersize Me). This is an astounding number for an island that is 13 miles long and 2 miles wide. One-fourth of Americans eat a fast food meal daily. The consumption of fast food by Americans is a big contributor to why an estimated 160 million Americans are obese or overweight (see Health Data). Of those 160 million, 30% of girls and boys under the age of 20 are obese or overweight. With all this information, Morgan wanted to see just how bad fast food was for you and how much of a contributor it is to the obesity epidemic in America.
Starting Out
Before Morgan began his “Supersize Me” journey, he decided to go see three doctors and determine his starting weight and various other health measurement’s. He saw a cardiologist, a gastroenterologist, and a general physician. Morgan’s starting weight was 185.5 pounds and his body fat percentage was 11. Morgan also went to see a nutritionist that told him eating around 2,500 calories a day would help him maintain his weight. Of course, all three of his doctors and his nutritionist recommended that Morgan not consume a diet consisting only of McDonalds. His doctors predicted four things would likely happen during and after this experiment—increased cholesterol levels, gaining weight, potential heart disease, and increased triglycerides. The average office worker takes 2,500-3,000 steps a day. Morgan decided to limit himself to 5,000 steps a day to really get into the experiment. After Morgan talked to all of his doctors, he started his McDonalds eating journey.
The Beginning of the Journey
Morgan’s journey began February 1st, 2004 through March 2nd, 2004. Not only did Morgan eat McDonalds for a month, but he traveled the country and interviewed people from all over to help him and his viewers better understand the fast food industry and the obesity epidemic in America. On day two of Morgan’s experiment, he was asked if he wanted to supersize his meal, of course Morgan had to say yes. After he ate his first supersized meal, Morgan vomited right outside his car window and it took him over 25 minutes to finish the entire meal. If that doesn’t tell you not to supersize, I don’t know what will. Morgan kept a food log of everything he ate to document to his nutritionist what he had eaten. On his first check in, Morgan’s nutritionist told him he was eating 5,000 calories a day which is double what he is supposed to be eating to maintain his weight. Of course, this led to his abnormal weight gain. In just the first five days Morgan gained ten pounds. After his first check in with his other doctors, his liver had started to become fatty which they didn’t originally predict. His doctors urged Morgan to stop this diet, but Morgan wanted to follow through with his experiment.
In the End
In the end, Morgan had gained a total of 24 pounds in just one month. His liver turned to fat and his cholesterol shot up 65 points ending at 230 points. Morgan’s body fat percentage went from 11 to 18 percent. The average body fat percentage for men is 22 percent and 30 percent for women. Men going over 24 percent body fat and women going over 37 percent body fat are considered obese (see Nutrition Book Chapter 7). Morgan also doubled his risk for coronary heart disease and he was then twice as likely to have heart failure. For the majority of this experience, Morgan was depressed and exhausted and he had constant mood swings. It took Morgan five months to lose the first 20 pounds from the experiment and another nine months to lose the last four and a half pounds. This experiment showed that fast food really is bad for you and shouldn’t be eaten at all or very rarely.
Influences on Children
An important thing I learned while watching this documentary was how the fast food industry influences and advertises to kids. McDonalds is appealing to kids because of the clown, the playgrounds, the birthday parties and the happy meals. With all of these factors combined, it’s no wonder children are suffering from obesity due to fast food. Yale University found that in 2012, the fast food industry spent 4.6 billion dollars on advertising (see Nutrition Book Chapter 1). Not only are children influenced by fast food but also unhealthy food choices at school. Many school lunches across America have little nutritional value in them. Morgan visited a school in Illinois where most student’s lunches consisted of fries, chips, and Gatorade. It’s a fact that children don’t get enough physical activity every day. This is another problem kids in America are facing today. Children and adolescents should get 60 minutes or more of physical activity a day (see Nutrition Book Chapter 2). Morgan visited a school in Massachusetts where the children were only physically active for 45 minutes a week. I believe the afore mentioned issues are a big contributor to the obesity epidemic in America today.
What I Learned
Overall, I learned a lot about nutrition from this documentary. A new point of view I learned from this documentary was the obesity epidemic in America is very negatively affecting our youth. I never took the time to see how everyday things that children experience (school and advertising) are negatively affecting their overall health and nutrition. This documentary opened my eyes to the world of fast food and what eating an unhealthy diet really does to your body. I believe that life is too short to be eating unhealthy and not taking proper care of your body through healthy eating and exercising. This documentary was produced in 2004, however, I believe it’s even more prudent today. We are still facing an obesity epidemic in America and things have to change. Children are still eating unhealthy and not getting enough exercise. The fast food industry is still taking over American’s meals. This documentary is a perfect example of why overall health and nutrition need to change in America.
References
Burkeman, O. (2004, July 16). Interview: Super Size Me director Morgan Spurlock. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2004/jul/16/foodanddrink.shopping
Carpentaria, P. (2017, December 18). Supersize Me (English) Documentary (2004). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1NnrXknRNg
McGraw Hill Connect. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://newconnect.mheducation.com/flow/connect.html
Murray, C. (2018, November 27). The vast majority of American adults are overweight or obese, and weight is a growing problem among US children. Retrieved from http://www.healthdata.org/news-release/vast-majority-american-adults-are-overweight-or-obese-and-weight-growing-problem-among
Smith, A. M., Collene, A. L., & Spees, C. K. (n.d.). McGraw Hill Connect(5th ed.). Retrieved from https://player.mheducation.com/#/epub/sn_e381#epubcfi(/6/6[data-uuid-2bcdabcd535a4c698ae641595a649710]!/4/2[data-uuid-f389456996ec4f659826a5d704bd31ff]/4[data-uuid-e2a05076ecad4948a5f66e8b36ad41b7])
Spurlock, M. (Director). (2004). Supersize Me[Video file]. United States: Documentary.
Reflection
This class has taught me a lot about nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle. Being a business major, I haven’t taken any other health classes prior to this one. However, I did take a basic health class in high school and I’ve made a lot of connections. This, being a college course, the information, assignments, and assessments were much more advanced than the class I took in high school. Although, my high school class gave me a sold and basic understanding so that I could successfully interpret the information I learned in Foundations of Nutrition. In high school, we were given basic assignments that didn’t apply what we were learning. In this class, our assignments allowed us to apply what we were learning in class to a real-life situation. For example, the $10 challenge truly showed me you can eat healthy on a budget. This nutrition course has furthered my education and understanding of what I had previously learned in high school.
The work I have done in this class has given me a positive perspective on nutrition and what I put into my body. I got to learn and understand the details of nutrition, the human body, living a healthy lifestyle, and why all of these things are important. Before this class, I had never given much thought about nutrition besides the little that I had learned in high school. I didn’t care much for what I put into my body and never read the nutrients/food label of the food I ate. This class not only showed me how to properly read a food label but to understand what the positives and negatives on food labels are. Over the last couple of years, I have realized I can't eat whatever I want and get away with it. I have gained a lot of weight since graduating high school because I thought I could still eat the junk food I always did in high school. However, I have learned that that isn't the case anymore. This class has taught me that with age, our metabolism changes making it so we can’t eat whatever we want. Specifically, the paper I wrote about the documentary “Supersize Me” really showed me what eating unhealthy food does to your body. I now know about many healthy and unhealthy foods and what I should be putting into my body and why to live a healthier lifestyle.