Gayle Robertson's ENGL121

[coreys121]

5 Weird Things Fast Food Does to Your Brain

And you thought it only affected your body!

This is a great link I found on men’s health. Everybody knows, or should know that fast food has major effects on your body. It can cause obesity, diabetes, heart problems and other major problems in our bodies. Most people don’t think about the effect that fast food has on our brains. Our brain uses a lot of bodies energy in order to function. Therefore the food that we puts in our bodies as a source of energy is used to keep our brain functioning.  This link here lists and explains 5 weird things that fast does to our brains. Fast food uses many different tricks to get us to continue to eat it that is right in front of out eyes but is not apparent to us; the color of the products theme(i.e. red and yellow). Also when tested on lab rats it seems that we get more satisfaction from food than we do drugs, and become addicted to the sugar and fats just as we would drugs. It’s incredible, but unfortunate that the effect that fast food has on our body and brain. 

[gayler121]

"Canadian researchers found mice that followed a high-fat diet felt more anxious after 6 weeks than rodents on a low-fat plan. That’s because eating foods high in sugar and fat actually changes the chemical activity in your brain, causing signs of withdrawal and depression if you stop consuming them, according to the study."

This portion of that article was greatly concerning to me.  I know a few people with anxiety problems, and it disturbs me to know that diet can affect mood in that way.  It's worrisome that what your body consumes affects your mind to such a dramatic degree.  Being addicted to sugar and unhealthy foods leading to depression (when your body does not consume them) can be another way that food corporations have control over consumers minds.

One of the other points of the article was that being next to a fast food restaurant when making decisions can make the person more impulsive and want immediate gratification.  This relates to the first point of seeing fast food logos making people more impatient and have difficulty enjoying art and music. 

[i-hear-your-tunes-deactivated20]

[abrietzke121]

People need to realize how important it is to eat a healthy diet as well as train hard. This is the key to true physical fitness as  both diet and exercise go hand in hand. America unfortunately,  is headed  in the wrong direction. Many Americans are eating increasingly unhealthy diets as well as neglecting to participate in enough physical activity to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Americans need to be increasingly  made aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle as Americas overall health is sub par.

[annataranto121-blog]

Although I agree with the healthy diet aspect of this post, I do not agree that training hard is a necessity. The health of those in this country, on average, is significantly worse than other countries but the fault is on our food. A lack of exercise is only a small contributor. If the majority of the foods we have access to were healthier, I do not believe we would have such a weight/health issue in this country.

[gayler121]

I do believe that lack of exercise is a strong contributor to obesity in America.  Families can be too busy to exercise (with school, work, and other activities), so burning off the calories from our unhealthy foods isn't happening often enough.  The people that I know that do get enough exercise focus on that to the extreme.  Focusing on eating healthy and exercising enough both contribute to obesity and health issues.

[nutrisupsworldwide]

the choice is yours …

[abrietzke121]

This is completely true “the choice is yours.” many people in the U.S  are becoming obese because they do exactly that… do not exercise enough. American culture is becoming more and more of a lazy one everything is there whiteout work needed to be done for it which only leads to gaining of weight as the foods we have available are unhealthy for the most part.

[gayler121]

This picture and commentary is offensive to people that are overweight due to health problems--diabetes and some other physical ailments can make it difficult to exercise or lose weight.  There's also the fact that people don't all look cookie-cutter perfect; there's no formula to have a perfect body, but there's plenty of people to advertise and sell products like they know.  Six-pack abs are genetic, and for some people, no amount of eating disorders or obsessive exercising can't change that.  The prioritization of looks (appearing to be healthy) over health is part of the reason that legitimate healthy eating habits are pushed aside. 

[gayler121]

I wanted to comment additionally on the excess of commercials of food products that I've seen in my lifetime.  There tends to be McDonald's billboards before exits, but there's also a giant arch that's pretty damn hard to miss. I wonder about the purpose of these kinds of ads--especially with the recurrent commercials that are constantly present on TV.  It feels like I'm programmed to be thinking about the fast food industry continually (because it is so present in my life).  It's very difficult to break my way of thinking when it encompasses almost every image in my mind.  Eating healthy may also be difficult, because of the impact this constant exposure has on the subconscious.  For children, this effect is probably stronger, because they don't have the logical skills to counteract a strong (possibly irrational) desire for something.

[gayler121]

I feel like the commercialism of food is more outrageously proportioned than before--especially with the more recent celebration of Valentine's Day.  For Americans, the consumption of food becomes something of a luxury or a hobby.  The themed candies and gifts are clearly catered to a community that only has interest in consuming and profiting.  Personally, it sickens me to witness a necessary function of survival being exploited for profit.  In addition to that, the unnecessary use of pink, red, and heart shapes at this time disgusts me.    Even relationship health is put aside with the prioritization of selling more small commodities of foodstuffs and teddy bears.  The overall impact that this has on me is the irritation and frustration with seeing the surplus of bullshit lining shelves.

[damarc121]

This article had nothing to do with how healthy or unhealthy foods are but it deals with food restaurants. It just really caught my eye because of how shocking it was to me. The article is basically about how some McDonald’s restaurants are not allowing loitering and giving customers a 30 minute or less time limit while consuming food. Now in my opinion I just feel like its wrong to rush someone to eat their food. There were 2 situations in this matter. One situation explained how a McDonald’s tried to kick him out because he exceeded the time limit and since he refused to leave they got the police involved. The other dealt with a group of deaf people that sued starbucks after a store forbaded their group meet-up complaining that they didnt buy enough coffee. I also think that’s wrong as well knowing that starbucks offers free wifi that attracts people to stay in their for hours! But everyone has their own opinions so what do you guys think? Should people have to buy a certain amount of food in order for them to stay in there for as long as they want? #ENGL121

[gayler121]

I feel like any restuarant or place that serves customers with wi-fi should expect loitering.  It's extremely rude to expect people to leave within a time limit (outside of closing time), and I would be offended if I had been rushed to leave.  I'd also be angry at the trivial use of the police force   It's a waste to get their resources spent trying to explain why people can't occupy space in a restuarant.  I understand wanting to be able to profit more by allowing more people in and out of the facility faster, but rushing people hurts business as well.  Not only that, but the involvement of the police in something so pointless is irritating.  I think that being in a restuarant after having eaten is impolite, but some people enjoy spending more time eating.  I feel that people that are finished eating should leave on their own.

[changetheworldwithjustabite-blog]

[abrietzke121]

This is very true people neglect to realize if they want to make a difference, especially with the good they eat they need to stop putting money towards it. When they do they are essentially supporting whatever they are paying for. So, with that being said people need to stop buying unhealthy food if they want to put a stop to it!

[gayler121]

In some ways, the problem isn't that simple.  There are families that can't afford to buy healthier foods, there are families that don't have the time to prepare healthier food, and even if few families did stop purchasing unhealthy food, a large percentage of consumers would have to suddenly change their eating habits to deny unhealthy food production.  The healthier options are more difficult to find than a famous fast food restuarant, so supporting alternative options can be troublesome to impossible.

Of course, for the people that only struggle with finding time, the "No Support" solution is much more simple and plausable.  There are many places that sell higher quality groceries and online recipes to prepare them.  And finding time in the schedule is more of an artificial challenge.

[nicolasg121]

This picture has some accuracy in terms of healthy foods, costs, and taste. This picture was made as more of a joke I feel, but there is some truth behind it. Healthy organic food does not always come cheap. A college student doesn’t usually have “locally raised meats and cheeses” on their grocery list. I buy what I can afford while being able to enjoy my meal. This means I’ve been picking tasty and cheap from the picture. Vegetables are more likely to be cheaper than fruits and meats, which will allow for healthier selections. It can be said that buying organic food is more expensive but healthier for you than buying foods with fillers and preservatives. This picture shows a reality most Americans have to face when they are buying food at a supermarket.

[gayler121]

I think a key aspect missing from this image is that the category of "healthy" food can be expensive, not filling, and not cheap.  Because the quantity of food eaten goes up as the quality and price goes down,  I feel that eating more has become a habit.  The smaller portions of more expensive, healthier food can feel like it doesn't fill stretched stomachs, and with more easily available junk foods, the alternative is both faster and cheaper.  The important lesson here is to find a way to only eat the necessary portions of healthy foods, and try to minimize overeating.  (I assumed that over-indulging in healthy foods would be much less of a concern due to cost.)  Another point of interest is that unhealthy foods are addictive and that could be another reason that overeating occurs more with junk foods.

[sarahm121-deactivated20140418]

I don’t understand that a bottle of pop can be less than a bottle of water. Why do marketing people lower prices on food items that isn’t good for us? We don’t need pop to survive but we do need that water that is 50 cents more, it would be astonishing if someone in the marketing business would realize this and make this connecting. Maybe they would lower the prices of foods and drinks that would most likely save us and help us in our later years.

[gayler121]

The most simple solutions lead to complicated outcomes that can't be fixed easily, either. Corporations don't care or need to care about people to push products.  The government would have to step in and influence corporations to change this.  The companies that sell things that aren't healthy would more than likely end up being taxed.  The impoverished would now have trouble affording the (for argument's sake, unhealthy) foods that sustain them.  There would be a lot of people unhappy with that outcome.  The companies that produce and sell healthy food and drink items would lose profit if their prices were forced down, and jobs would be lost.  Overall, this would be bad news for the economy, the government would be blamed, and people would be upset. 

[gayler121]

Are You Hungry? -- Pittman Event

I went to an event in my dorms called "Are You Hungry?"  The RA spoke about how roughly 50% of people on the planet  do not have enough to eat, struggle to pay for basic needs, and have other financial and medical difficulties.  About 30% of the population is in the middle-class range, and 20% is wealthy.  Interestingly enough, the 20% has health issues related to food as well, but only because of overindulging in the food.  Of course, those health issues are cared for more easily due to the wealth that the rich possess.

The poor struggle more with life and death, but the major concerns to the middle and upper classes are vacations and luxuries.  It's difficult to break from the cycle of ignoring that there are people struggling as well.  Thinking about it can be depressing, especially when (if everyone helped slightly), it wouldn't be nearly as big of a problem. Another topic that came up during this event was the people that fake being homeless.  Apparently, giving out money is a taboo now, for that reason.  Real homeless people would be content with food.

[cornsyrupconspiracy]

The almighty and powerful Corn Refiners Association try to flex their muscle and dupe the public into thinking corn syrup is “natural” once again.

[shaynew121]

Once again I have stated I have studied this topic before and this is one of the topics that was really shocking. Now that people are starting to hear about high fructose corn syrup and how bad it is, companies want to change the name on the label. I have researched and corn sugar isn’t the only name that they are trying to hide this ingredient under. The reason companies are so dependent on this ingredient is the cost. Corn is so highly subsidized and there is so much of it, that the cost to make high fructose corn syrup is so cheap. Studies have also shown that this increased high fructose corn syrup in our diet has been linked to obesity. Real cane sugar has way less of an impact on your body, however its cost can’t compete with the high fructose corn syrup. Thus a lot of sugar farms went out of business and you can see this on labels now. Everywhere sugar once was is now replaced with this new sweetener high fructose corn syrup, or whatever name they are trying to hide it behind.

[gayler121]

My name is Gayle Robertson.  I am a freshman.  My major is undecided, and I'm from Midland, Michigan.