Dietary Guidelines Questions and Answers 2
1. In Chapter 2 of this part, the author refers to what he calls “the elephant in the living room”.
What is the “elephant” in this case? In other words, what is the fundamental problem that
nutritionists, researchers, the food industry and the government want to avoid and deny?
When the author refers to the elephant in the room he is talking about what he calls "the
western diet." The western diet consists of lots of processed foods and meats, lots of added fat
and sugar, lots of everything except fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. The American way of
eating is to look at current research and find out what nutrient is good to eat and eat more of that
nutrient. but with research always changing it is hard to really tell which foods are actually good
for you. The point of the western diet is that even though we don't know for sure which foods are
necessarily good for us we do know which foods are bad and what we should stay away from.
We know that the way people eat in the west causes them to have higher rates of cancer,
cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity. Anyone who starts to eat this western diet will
adopt those diseases. Even though it is hard to tell what is good truly good to eat sometimes we
do know that eating a western diet is very bad for your health and should be avoided.
2. Describe the work and findings of the dentist, Dr. Weston Price. What were the major themes
that Dr. Price found in his research? Why does the author think that Dr. Price’s findings are so
significant?
Dr. Weston Price closed down his dental practice to study and find out what effects the
western diet has on teeth. He was very successful in his research finding out that the western diet
has a huge impact on teeth. He visited more isolated areas whom only eat more traditional diets
rather than the bad western diet and found that they had perfectly formed teeth free of decay.
From not brushing their teeth they still had greenish slime covered teeth but beneath that was
better teeth than people in the west who even have toothbrushes and brush their teeth on a
regular basis. He found that the natives tend to eat more vitamin A and D which could be the
cause to them having better teeth. When eating processed foods it takes away essential nutrients
that teeth need and can cause them to go bad. Price found that no single diet was perfect but
found out that populations that ate fruits, vegetables, and grains the most were the best. The
author said, "much like heart disease, chronic problems of the teeth are by now part of the
furniture of modern life." He believes Dr. Price's findings are significant because he finds it odd
that we need so much work on our teeth when they go bad and feels that it can resolved not by
surgery but by eating better.
3. In chapter 3 of this section, the author describes five consequences of the rise of food
processing and the “industrialization” of food. What are these five consequences and why are
they a problem?
The five consequences presented in this chapter are From Whole Foods to Refined, From
Complexity to Simplicity, From Quality to Quantity, From Leaves to Seeds, and From Food
Culture to Food Science. From Whole Foods to Refined talks about how today we eat more
refined foods such as carbohydrates rather than whole foods. The author explains that people
chose white flour and white rice over brown even though they lost nutrients from choosing white
flour and white rice. They chose this because it lasted longer on their shelves, was easier to
digest, and the starch turned to glucose quicker. In 1880 they replaced rollers with grinding with
stone of flour creating a more refined flour which sped up its absorption making it the first fast
food. The author goes on explaining how refined food become more preferred because it is
cheaper and tastes better even though it is worse for health.
The second consequence is From Complexity to Simplicity. In this section we learn that
soil is basically processed and formed to create food faster. The big three macronutrients plants
need to grow are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Plants are given large doses of these three
nutrients but lack other nutrients because they are receiving so much of the major three. This
causes them to be more vulnerable to pests, diseases, and makes them lose lots of their
nutritional quality. The author explains that a century ago a farm had a variety of plants and
animals such as: cattle, chickens, corn, hogs, apples, hay, oats, potatoes, cherries, wheat, plums,
grapes and pears but now only focus on two main things, corn and soybeans. This is what the
author means when he means From Complexity to Simplicity. Corn and soybeans are a quick
way to obtain carbohydrate energy but is not considered healthy. A lot of what we eat comes
from corn or soybeans and is used because it helps animals grow faster.
From Quality to Quantity refers to quantity of calories in food affecting the quality. Food
now is being made as cheap as possible and affects the amount of calories in it. Quality of food
goes down while quantity of calories goes up. This is a problem because we are getting less
nutrients and more bad processed ingredients which greatly affects our health. The author states,
"Nutritional inflation seems to have two principal causes: changes in the way we grow food and
changes in the kinds of food we grow." He means that we changed the way we grow food and
the types by using science to alter them while they grow.
The fourth consequence is From Leaves to Seeds. We eat a lot more seeds than we do
leaves and so does animals. This is very bad because leaves proved a host of critical nutrients a
body can't get from a diet of refined seeds. Some ingredients we get from leaves rather than
seeds are antioxidants, phytochemicals, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are
most important of all and is found in green plants specifically algae. They are important because
our bodies cannot produce these on our own. Without realizing it we are changing our diets for
the worse not getting enough omega-3 fatty acids and getting more omega-6s
Finally the last consequence is From Food Culture to Food Science. Before science food
was eaten by their national, ethnic, or regional cultures. Mixing science with food causes major
problems because making food faster by processing them creates unhealthy diets for people.
Eating this science food can cause heart disease, high blood pressure, and obesity. Formatting
food and altering its natural state causes it to be more vulnerable to insects and diseases which
also is a big consequence rather than letting it grow naturally.
4. From part two of the book, choose one quote, story or fact that you found particularly
interesting and write about it. Please note which page it is on. Why did you choose this
quote/story/fact? Why do you think it is important and interesting?
One part of the book I found very interesting is when they talked about western lifestyles
and diseases. On page 92 the author talks about how some people disagree that the western diet
had no impact on diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. They believed that different races
and genetics excluded them from certain diseases. "White people were disclosed to heart attacks,
brown people to things like leprosy." Statements like this caught my attention because it just
sounds so ridiculous to think that just because you are white you can eat whatever you want and
not get a heart attack. The author states that blacks in America suffered from the same chronic
diseases as whites living there. He also points out that immigrants from places with lower rates
of chronic diseases seem to quickly gain chronic diseases when they move to America because
our diets are so pour. This is important to know and recognize because race and genetics have no
part in excluding anyone from diseases but how you eat and what your diet consists is what
affects your health.