Post 9

The pieces by Pollan and Dupuis discuss the nutrition side of what we eat every day and the “advice” we receive on what to eat in order to be an overall healthy person.  Nutrition is something that has been constantly brought up when discussing diets and healthy eating.  The Food Pyramid, which comes in several different appearances and has adapted over the years, is an indicator for the nutrition we should eat to have a truly healthy diet.  The Dupuis piece discusses this idea, when he brings up the ideas of healthy eating and “advice” that was given to people in history in regards to eating.  Dupuis discusses the advice given by angels, who spoke of what should be eaten and not eaten to be a pure, healthy person.  This, in turn, tied food in greatly with religion.  Red meats were to be stayed away from (as they are today), along with alcohol and caffeine.  Supposedly, John Smith received wisdom-filled advice in regards to eating and being overall healthy:  “Smith received “The Word of Wisdom,” a set of recommendations about healthy living, including abstinence from coffee, tea, and alcohol and the “sparing” use of meat” (Dupuis,36).  Additionally Benjamin Rush created advice, including eating several vegetables, avoiding alcohol, and having adequate exercise.  Although these ideas are very similar, the advice is not the same.  The same applies with food pyramids today.  They are constantly changing, and may not have the same information.  One may say to eat more grains, while another says to eat more vegetables.  So, what is actually a healthy diet?

            The Pollan piece also discusses the differing ways in which we are advised to eat as well.  Diets, food products, and pretty much anything you can buy in a supermarket is constantly advertising their nutritional value on the products.  Nutrients vary for everything we eat, no matter what it is.  So how do we know what nutrients we actually need to be an overall “healthy person”?  As Pollan stated in his article from a nutritionist at the New York University, “Most nutritional science involves studying one nutrient at a time, an approach that even nutritionists who do it will tell you is deeply flawed. “The problem with nutrient-by-nutrient nutrition science, is that it takes the nutrient out of the context of food, the food out of the context of diet and the diet out of the context of lifestyle” (Pollan, 6).  Basically, yes, something may say “low-fat”, “low-sugar”, “high in fiber”, and so on, but that just a single aspect of the food.  So is the advice labeled on what we eat today something that makes it healthy, such as “low-fat”?  Actually, there seems to be a greater level of gained weight from products in low fat, low carbs, and so on.  So what, really, makes a healthy person?   I am no expert on the subject, but in my opinion, a healthy person is someone who eats a good amount of vegetables, grains, healthy sugars, such as fruits, along with eating a good amount of proteins and healthy fats, along with regular exercise routines.  If I were to give food eating advice, just as Pollan and Dupuis discuss in their pieces, that is what I would advice.  However, that may not be the advice someone else has to give in regards to food.  Overall, the decision on what to eat in order to be a “healthy person” is up to you, and what your idea of healthy is, and how you interpret different forms of advice from our world today.