Over
the past couple months, I have learned so much about different food values and
how different people choose what they want to eat. Some people eat what is
healthy, some eat what is organic, some eat what they have with them, and some
just eat what is cheapest. For me, most of these things don’t play a large role
in choosing what I want to eat. I just eat what tastes good.
One
of the greatest parts of growing up in Wisconsin was the State Fair. This has
to be one of my favorite events of all time, and I make sure I go at least once
every summer. This is a time when all of the greatest foods in Wisconsin all
come together in one great week. It is a food lover’s paradise. There are so
many different foods to try, most of them are the same as the year before, but
each year, there is some new culinary creation, like deep fried butter or
chocolate covered bacon. There are a few favorites that I eat every time, and I
make sure to try one new thing each time I go. Necessity number one is the
milk. There is an area that sells a cup of flavored milk for just a quarter.
The flavors of milk include black cherry, strawberry, raspberry, chocolate (of
course), Root Beer, and in recent years, banana. I usually make sure I get at
least 2 different flavors every time I go and I am never disappointed. The
second thing I make sure I always get is a Cream Puff. These things cannot be
good for me at all, but it tastes so good. It is essentially two fluffy pieces
of bread, with an excessive amount of cream in the middle of it, with powdered
sugar on top. I am pretty sure that zero percent of that has any health
benefits, but it’s one of the most delicious things that I have ever consumed. I
have always eaten a lot, and most of it hasn’t exactly been good for me, but I
was raised eating a wide variety of foods, so I get my fair share of greens in.
I love sweets though. I love a nice cold Dr. Pepper or some Twizzlers when I go
see a movie. Throughout my entire life, I have eaten whatever looked good at
that time and decided that I wouldn’t worry about how healthy it was until a
later time.
I love to
eat. I always have and I always will. My favorite thing about food is the
taste; and I wouldn’t base my food choices on anything besides that. I have my
entire life to worry about my health, so in the present, I’m going to eat what I
want and not worry about how it may affect my health. I’m not exactly worried
about becoming overweight since I’ve always been a very active individual. According
to the American Heart Association, regular physical activity helps to “improve
blood circulation, which reduces the risk of heart disease, keep weight under
control, and improve blood cholesterol levels” Though this doesn’t necessarily
mean I can eat whatever I want and be perfectly healthy, as long as I manage to
get some healthy food into my diet, I won’t have to worry so much about eating
what actually tastes good. To me, food has always been an important part of my
life, especially because of my upbringing in Wisconsin. I never want to settle
for something to eat just because it is something to eat. I always try to make
sure that what I’m eating tastes good and will be satisfying for me.
I am well aware of all of the
studies that say how foods that taste so good can be so bad for you, but it
changes nothing. One of these foods is red meat. I can’t even explain how much I
love the food you can make with red meat. Whether it’s a juicy cheeseburger, a
succulent steak, Mom’s homemade meatloaf, or some meatballs on top of delicious
spaghetti, nothing beats a generous helping of red meat. Of course, some would
disagree with me. Dr. An Pan did a study that proved that “consumption of both
processed and unprocessed red meat is associated with an increased risk of
premature mortality from all causes as well as from cardiovascular disease and
cancer.” (Ornish) According to this, there’s no denying that a lot of red meat
is not exactly healthy for my future, but that doesn’t change a thing. I love
meat, and I won’t stop eating it.
Furthermore, just because something
is tasty, does not mean that it has to be unhealthy. In our society, we
commonly associate things that are unhealthy as being tasty. Rajagopal
Raghunathan did a series of studies that showed that people associate unhealthy
foods as tasting better. In one of his experiments, he told participants to try
two different crackers and he told them that one of the crackers had 2 grams of
good fat and the other had 11 grams of bad fat, “the participants perceived the
cracker with the higher content of good (versus bad) fat content as healthier.”
(Raghunathan) Alongside of this experiment, he also instilled a hedonic goal
into one of the groups by telling them to imagine that they were craving a
really tasty snack. Out of that group, a significantly larger proportion of
participants chose the “unhealthy” option. (Raghunathan) This study shows how people
can perceive tasty food to be unhealthy and that they are more likely to choose
this type of food if they are looking for enjoyment out of their food, like me.
However, Marilyn Kuntz did a study that examined how Brazilian students, ages
7-10, viewed snacks in regards to being healthy and tasty. She asked the
students about foods that were actually consumed during snack breaks, foods
they considered healthy and/or tasty, and their desired characteristics of a
healthy and tasty snack. (Kuntz) The students considered mostly vegetables to
be healthy and sweets and pizza to be tasty. However, when asked what they
actually ate, the most common responses were things like packaged snack foods
and cookies. Then, when they were asked what they considered a snack that was
both healthy and tasty, the majority said fruit. From these observations, we
can infer that food doesn’t have to pick between being healthy or tasty, it can
be both. I am in agreement with these Brazilian children; fruit is a great
choice if you’re looking for something that’s healthy and tasty.
The bottom line is that I love food.
I don’t care what effects it will have on me, if it tastes good, I will eat it.
I acknowledge that this eating habit of mine can have serious negative impacts
on my future, but I trust that between my frequent exercise and inclusion of a
bit of healthy food into my diet, the tasty food won’t negatively affect me.
Through my research into how this sort of food might affect me I have learned
that it could potentially have detrimental impacts on me, but regardless of any
of it, I will not change my ways. I love food to sacrifice giving up the tasty
food. I suppose I may reduce the amount of this food that I will eat, but I can’t
possibly quit eating it all together, it’s just too good. This diet is not for
everyone. Maybe I’ve been blessed with good genes and a good metabolism, or
maybe it’s because I am fairly active, but this diet suits me just fine.
No comments:
Post a Comment