Her essay is a response to Michael Pollan, a well-known health Journalist and is a name that Maxfleld refers to a lot in her article. She suggests that Pollan is contributing to our cultural anxiety over food by using "eating algorithms" in which he backs up by his negative claims over American health. Instead of using a diet plan, or strict rules on food, Maxfleld insists Americans should learn to trust their bodies, and they will meet their personal health needs, no more, no less.
Mary Maxfield''s theory on trusting your body, and listening to its needs is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult problem of dieting and loosing weight, while also trying to achieve balanced nutrition. Despite her intentions, she ails to elaborate on how to trust ourselves with food, and the education needed through doctors and schools to do so. Most health Journalists such as Michael Pollan are not out to make our country an unhealthy place; in fact, they are probably trying to help, which can be seen in articles like Why are calorie counting Americans fatter than Europeans? nd Easy ways to be a skinny American. But, I believe as Maxfield does, that they add anxiety to an already stressful situation. If you walk into a grocery store, gas station, or convenience store, there are many articles about loosing weight or the newest dieting ad. How are Americans supposed to know which one will work? How will they choose the diet that can help them get back into their skinny Jeans? Americans want to be skinny, and the more dieting they do, the more their bodies fluctuate. As the years go on, it becomes harder to stay balanced and healthy.
The answer is to throw all of our ideas about dieting out the window and start calling upon our doctors for more personal health education to each patient they see. This would mean every patient in the hospital would not only learn their diagnosis, but also get a lesson on what our odies need to be healthy. It would also require our local schools to provide healthier options for lunch so instead of pizza, ice cream, and sloppy Joes, students have a choice of grilled chicken, fruit, and vegetables.
If this starts at a young age, with each early check up, and snack time during pre-school, the lesson will be engraved into the memory, and applied as the child grows into an adult. Just as learning the alphabet, math, and basic language, we should be educating our children at a young age how to trust their bodies and eat what their bodies ask for, no more, no less. It is difficult to understand the impact health Journalists, and weight loss website www. worldometers. info, it gives a running total of how much Americans are spending each day on weight loss programs.
Today, the number was up to $118 million. Just today. When looking at a figure like that, I can''t help but agree with Maxfield''s position on dieting, and spending too much thought, time, and money on our obsession with weight loss instead of balanced nutrition and healthy lifestyles. The main difference between the French and the Americans isn''t the food itself; it''s his strange obsession with dieting, which comes from a lack of early education about our bodies. Americans are told to "diet", the French are not.
Suppose then, we were able to take the food industries out of the picture, take the magazines off the shelves, and quiet the health Journalists up for a week. Wouldn''t it be interesting to see how people received information about what they were eating? Instead of looking at a label for health information, we''d be forced to trust our doctors as well as our own knowledge based on color, smell, and need. Without ooking at calorie counts, or serving sizes, we''d learn to trust our bodies based on how full we feel and the condition our body is in afterwards.
The basic principle of "trust" should be applied to children at a young age so they never have to loose weight in the first place and know which foods make them feel good, such as vegetables, fruit, and energy providing proteins. I believe more education means less need for unhealthy fast foods (McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys, etc. ), and higher demand for "fast food" healthy options such as hard-boiled eggs, to-go salads, and local fresh fruit stand''s. Again, if we start educating children early enough, healthy living can become second nature.
All of this being said, healthy living doesn''t necessarily mean you will be stick thin; it Just means your body feels good and balanced. This comes with trial and error, but that is completely normal and human nature. Doctors are seen as well educated and very respected in our society, so it makes sense for them to use their knowledge, and educate the public with each doctor''s visit. Public schools are responsible for the needs of children during lunch and sometimes breakfast, so making healthy living a riority and providing better options will help students with their weight, mental focus, and all-around health.
When Maxfield asks Americans to trust themselves, and trust their bodies, so they can meet their needs, no more, no less, I believe she is right but she is leaving out the key element of education through knowledgeable doctors and proper food in schools. Just like the French, all Americans are born with the chance to live healthy, balanced lives. We are all built the same, and it is possible to be healthy, without your favorite magazine giving you the details on the newest dieting fad.
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