Sunday, October 16, 2011

Blog 3

Previously this week in class, we read a few chapters off the book "The End of Over Eating", written by David A. Kessler.  The author explains the eating habits that have changed over the last couple of decades and what has caused a dramatic weight gain in our world today. The simple reason being we are overeating. Not only are we overeating past our caloric needs but exactly like the title of Chapter 3 in Kessler's book, sugar, fat, and salt make us eat more sugar, fast, and salt.  Far worse, a combination of these ingredients makes the food "hyperpalatable". The body system that is supposed to mantain our energy balance now is faulty due to the easy access and preference we have to all the variety of foods that are high in sugar and fat.

For example, Kessler states, "Sugar and fat are reinforcing, and cues, quantity, concentration and variety all increase that reinforcement value" (34, Kessler).   The definiton for reinforce in the text is basically what keeps us coming back for more sweet and fatty foods. Our palettes get used to these contents intesifying the taste and signals sent to the reward system in our brain. Cues are the location, setting, where we'd find these foods most likely triggering our want for it more. The fact that there are so many competitve fast food chains, and advertisement on what is cheap and high in these ingredients does not help. That is why in America, it is very easy to reinforce the desire to continue over eating sugar and fat.

There is however a bliss point to each individual. A bliss point is the point in which we get the greatest pleasure from sugar, fat, and salt. People do suffer from low intakes of these main ingredients in our diet. Too much intake has a similar effect but instead makes the meal or drink less palatable. Either way you go, it is fatal food. It is undeniable this country has gone through big changes literally since the 1980's. The lack of self control for what we eat has overpowered this country and one has become quite settled being the average American. 

1 comment:

  1. In terms of directions, i think you could have done a little better to let the reader know what you were going to talk about and so that the reader would not get lost in the process of reading this blog.The structure of your paragraphs are good and i think you stayed in context. You need to work a little bit in quotation and citation though because i dont believe youre citing correctly. You should try to incorporate more critical thinking and let the reader know what your opinions are in terms of the subject.This blog is interesting because it made me think about the way i eat and the problems that we have today in our society because of how unhealthy the things we eat are.

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