Download Gonzalez Joseph M. Gonzalez Professor Sara Talpos English 225

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Joseph M. Gonzalez
Professor Sara Talpos
English 225 Section 16
19 November 2010
Fighting Our Physiology
I made it. Seven days without consuming a single carbohydrate. The weeklong Atkins
diet marathon of counting calories, reading food labels and abstaining from breads, starches and
sweets had left me drained both physically and emotionally. I had endured the temptations by my
mocking roommates of “Mmm this pasta is so good” and “Hey, want to go to No Thai? … oh
wait, you can’t!” while simultaneously ignoring the ever-present existence of sweets and junk food
in my apartment. The high protein, low/no carbohydrate regimen that I had put myself through
taught me not only about self-control, but also that this style of dieting and other fad diets like it
can’t be healthy or how our bodies were designed to function. Being a “health nut” myself, I was
inspired to explore the reasoning behind some of the cravings I experienced while on the diet as
well as the presence of processed foods in shaping our eating habits and lifestyles.
Before going on the Atkins diet, I did some research as to what exactly it was about as well
as what I could and couldn’t eat. I learned that I was to eat foods high in protein while consuming
little to no sugar or carbohydrates. By doing so, my body would, in theory, “transform from a
carbohydrate-burning machine into a fat-burning machine” as stated by the mission statement
explaining the science of the diet on atkins.com. (Thoughtful 1) My diet was to consist of low
glycemic index foods such as meat, milk, cream, cheese, nuts, high fat foods and fibrous
vegetables. (Fisher 1) With this being said, I deliberated about where exactly my body would be
getting its energy from since it had been drilled into my head from my Biology 105 (Biology of
Human Nutrition) class that the body’s main source of energy is glucose extracted from
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carbohydrates and sugars. (Bird-Bredbenner 172) Meanwhile, I wondered what the premise was
behind not eating carbohydrates; why would such an obscure concept work? Study after study
would go on to say that “It is argued that a low carbohydrate diet is more natural for the human
body because grains in the form of wheat, rice, etc, only became a regular part of our diet 10,000
years ago so our bodies have not had time to evolve to cope with them satisfactorily.” (Fisher 1)
This brought me to determine that if such a diet was good enough for the cavemen and the
gladiators, then it was good enough for me to give the old college try for a week too.
Day 1. The morning of Monday, November 1st started out like any other—start hitting
snooze at 8 am, admit defeat and crawl out of bed at 8:07, walk in a trance to the bathroom, then
finally choose something to eat in the kitchen for “the most important meal of the day.” Before I
ate, however, I made sure to weigh myself in the event that I would lose some amount of weight
over the course of the week—my starting weight: 158 lbs. With my new diet in mind, I looked
past the inviting package of whole-grain Thomas english muffins perched upon the cool granite
countertop and instead peered into the refrigerator in favor of some protein. Ten minutes later I
had in front of me a plate of piping hot scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, a glass of orange
juice (I guess I wasn’t thinking about the sugar content) and a kiwi to get my day started. As the
day went on, I daydreamed in my English class about my next protein-intensive meal as well as
how I was going to survive the rest of the week without pasta or bread. Lunch would consist of
some leftover grilled chicken and roasted vegetables and later around 6:30 pm I would have
salmon and asparagus for dinner. With my first day of, in a sense, “cold turkey” dieting out of the
way, I felt quite confident that this process wouldn’t be half as bad as I had imagined it to be—
unfortunately, I was wrong.
As the days wore on, it became more and more of a challenge to find variety in what I
wanted to eat while maintaining such stringent anti-carbohydrate criteria—no bun with my
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cheeseburger; no pasta with my chicken; and no oatmeal, cereal or toast for breakfast. Even foods
like yogurt and granola I found had a significant amount of carbohydrates and were thus struck
from the short list of things I could eat. I would find later that this is a common struggle by many
Atkins and low calorie dieters as “the apparent choice of food on the Atkins Diet is not a sufficient
inducement to keep people on it.” (Fisher 1) I noticed by about day four that I didn’t have as
much energy as I normally did at that point in the week either. I attributed such a happening to my
lack of carbohydrate and sugar intake as I usually feel quite energized and rested after the nine
hours of sleep that I religiously get on Wednesday nights. Wondering if my physical struggles
were resulting in any weight loss or progress, I promptly weighed myself on day 7, Sunday,
November 7th, and was met with the same number as I started with—158 lbs. In a way, I was a
little disappointed with the fact that I hadn’t lost a single pound given my struggles and the fact
that I complimented my dieting with a daily five-mile run. This being said, I’d imagine it would
take more than a week for the body to transform into a “fat burning machine.”
Realizing my need for carbohydrates, I wondered what the best way to get “healthy”
carbohydrates was or if such a thing even existed. As it turns out, all of the media emphasis on
whole grains and complex carbohydrates has some merit. According to the Whole Grains
Council, a whole grain food is defined as one “containing all the essential parts and naturallyoccurring nutrients of an entire grain seed.” (Whole 1) Complex carbohydrates, like those found
in whole grains, take longer to digest and serve as a long-term energy source for the body. Whole
grain foods have also proven to reduce blood pressure, asthma, stroke risk, and type 2 diabetes.
As a healthful tip, it is recommended that one substitutes ordinary breads and pastas
(carbohydrates) for whole grain alternatives as a good way to reach/maintain a healthy weight
while sustaining a higher level of satiety. In other words, not all carbohydrates are bad. (Whole 1)
Another unwelcomed happening of the Atkins diet that I endured was that of intense
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cravings for sweets and carbohydrate-containing foods. I noticed intense hankerings for sugary
candies, greasy, salty junk food and fast food as the week went on. In an odd and uncomfortable
way, I felt more as if I was experiencing the cravings of an expectant mother than I did those of
the health-conscious athlete that I had known myself to be. In an effort to understand what I was
feeling, I curiously did some research and discovered that by restricting carbohydrate intake, “the
body can develop a compelling hunger, craving, or desire for carbohydrate-rich foods” while
experiencing “an escalating, recurring need or drive for starches, snack foods, junk food, or
sweets.” (Carbohydrate 1) Intrigued that these were the exact effects that I was experiencing, as
my stint with the Atkins diet drew to a close, I grew increasingly interested in why my body
craved sugary, salty and fatty foods instead of healthier, natural, more beneficial options for itself.
If fatty snack foods and fast food didn’t exist in ancient times, then why was my body craving
those things now?
My curiosity would lead me to an intriguing answer—our own human physiology is to
blame. Thousands of years ago, in the “bad old days” as my biology professor, Professor
Estabrook, would call them, food was not readily available as it is today. People did not eat three
balanced meals every day with a snack in-between as is the case in the present nor did they go to
the grocery store for their food. On the contrary, humans scrounged for food in the wild outdoors
to nourish themselves through hunting and gathering—sometimes going days or even weeks
without so much as a bite to eat. (Bird-Bredbenner 174) As these eating patterns emerged,
humans developed the taste for sugar and salt so that they would know to eat such foods when
they encountered them in nature. During these times, sodium was difficult to come by and thus
when a source of sodium was discovered, the internally bred desire for sodium signaled humans to
take advantage of such resources. Our developed taste of sugar is no different. The sugar in foods
such as fruit became an attractive taste so that when a source of sugar was found, humans would
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consume the fruit and in turn benefit from the vitamins and nutrients it contained. (BirdBredbenner 172)
In today’s modern world, adequate intakes (“AI” in medical terminology) of salt and sugar
are exceeded on a daily basis. It is suggested by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
that adults intake no more than 2300 milligrams (about one teaspoon) of salt per day. (Lowering 1)
Meanwhile, according to a study done by the Wall Street Journal:
Today, adults consume more than 3,400 mgs of sodium on average; not including
salt they use in cooking or sprinkle on food from a shaker; more than twice the
amount recommended for most people. Middle-aged men are eating on average
about 54% more salt today than in the early 1970s; for women, consumption has
jumped 67% in that time.
Such numbers are both staggering and unsettling to those of us who are health-conscious or suffer
from the side effects of high sodium intake such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Looking to learn more about the overconsumption of salt and sugar by today’s population,
I summoned the expertise of my family friend and physician, Dr. Lee Goldman, M.D. During our
phone conversation, I asked him exactly where all of this extra salt was coming from in our diets
and how we can stop eating so much of it. He had this to say:
In my opinion, such extravagant and excessive intakes of sodium are a result of the
food industry; in particular, processed foods. Almost anything that you can buy in
a box, bottle, or can has been infused in some way or another with sodium or sugar.
These unnecessary additives play off of our body’s ancient physiological desires to
consume salt and sugar for survival.
Dr. Goldman would go on to agree with Professor. Estabrook in that the food industry is, in
essence, taking advantage of our body’s outdated physiological software. He suggested that in an
effort to lower salt and sugar intakes, one should “eat whole, natural foods with ingredients you
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can pronounce. That puts out most junk foods, but at the same time, you’ll be doing a world of
good for your body in the long run.” (Goldman 1)
With this insight in mind, I took a trip into my kitchen to explore just how far the food
industry has gone. In the refrigerator, I examined the nutrition facts of various beverages to see
their sugar and salt contents. I was shocked to find that an eight ounce glass of Ocean Spray
cranberry juice packed a whopping 30 grams of sugar while an eight ounce glass of Guernsey
chocolate milk supplied a staggering 28 grams of sugar. My roommate’s Campbell’s Chunky
soup contained 800 milligrams of sodium while a can of my favorite Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda had
42 grams of sugar. Numbers like these proved exactly what Dr. Goldman had suggested—the
processed food industry is turning our physiological desires against us in a parasitic effort to make
a profit.
By experimentally following the Atkins diet, I quickly learned through experience that
not only is cutting out carbohydrates and sugars from one’s diet a difficult task, it is also
unnatural. We as a society have fallen under the impression that being “Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs”
is a good thing and that Campbell’s Chunky Soup “Fills You Up Right.” The reality that we as a
society are either unaware of or choose to ignore is that the processed foods we consume are
loaded with excessively high levels of sugar and salt that are actually doing our bodies harm. The
body’s inborn physiological tendency to gravitate towards and crave foods with high sodium
and/or sugar contents is a weak spot being exploited by processed food manufacturers. Through
the consumption of natural, whole foods and whole-grain complex carbohydrates, we as a society
can stop the growing trend of obesity that is sweeping our great nation. We must recognize that
more isn’t always better when it comes to some foods and that in the case of processed food, less
is ultimately more.
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Works Cited
Bird-Bredbenner, Carol, Moe, Gail, Beshgetoor, Donna and Berning, Jacqueline. Wardlaw’s
Perspectives in Nutrition – 8th edition. New York, New York. McGraw-Hill. 2009. Print.
Pgs. 172-175.
“Carbohydrate Cravings” lowcarb.ca. 2 November 2010. http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips/tips007.html
Fisher, Carol. “The Atkins Diet - Pros and Cons.” dietsnutrition.allinfoabout.com. 2003.
2 November 2010.http://dietsnutrition.allinfoabout.com/features/atkins.html
Goldman, Lee. Personal Interview. 3 November 2010.
“Lowering Salt in Your Diet.” fda.gov. FDA, 18 May 2010. Web. 1 November 2010.
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm181577.htm
McKay, Betsy. “The Salt Hiding in Your Diet --- Even Your Taste Buds May Not
Know: Culprits Include Cereal, Sliced Bread And Roast Chicken (but Not Chocolate)”.
Wall Street Journal. New York, New York. 3 August 2010. Online Scholarly Journal. 1
November 2010.
http://proquest.umi.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/pqdweb?index=1&did=2098544651
&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VNa
me=PQD&TS=1289273498&clientId=17822
“Thoughtful Approach. Powerful Science” atkins.com. September 2010. Web. 18 November
2010. http://www.atkins.com/Science/ScienceBehindAtkins.aspx
“Whole Grains Council” Web. 18 November 2010.
http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/definition-of-whole-grains