American Diets VS. Traditional Diets (Final Draft)

        
        Most Americans choose taste and flavor over health. They think the best foods are fast foods and snack foods, and they think that prescription drugs make them healthy again. Most Americans are not aware that most foods are Genetically Modified. These are some of the reasons so many Americans are sick. According to Washington Post, three in five Americans are taking a prescription drug. That's nearly sixty percent of Americans and the highest it's ever been. In the 1800s, prescription drugs have never been this popular, nor as addicting. Another thing that didn't even exist until 1992; it didn't become popular until 1994, are Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). GMO can be done multiple ways, but the most popular way is injecting chemicals into fruits, grain, vegetables, and other foods you grow. The third thing that changed from the 1800s to 2016 is the amount of sugar we eat. The way we eat today and in the 1800s changed tremendously.

        Doctors claim that drugs can be dangerous if not prescribed by them, as said on National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD). “Taking prescription drugs not prescribed to you by a doctor or in a way that hasn't been recommended by a doctor, can be more dangerous than you think. In fact, it can be fatal.” As I do agree with this, I also disagree. True, drugs are dangerous when not prescribed by doctors, but I think drugs are also dangerous when they are prescribed by doctors. Dr. Mercola stated: “The side effects of prescription medication can be horrific. Is it really worth taking medication if the cure is worse than the disease? Here are side effects that come with many prescription drugs currently on the market: Drainage, crusting, or oozing of your eyes or eyelids, swollen, black, or "hairy" tongue, blue lips or fingernails, extreme fear, purple spots on your skin, coughing up blood or vomit that looks like coffee grounds; congestive heart failure, etc. This is only a partial list of the potential side effects of prescription drugs. There are, unfortunately, many more out there.” Even if you only taking the amount your doctor instructs you, prescription drugs are very dangerous and have scary side effects. As Dr. Mercola, said, Is it really worth taking medication with all the side effects? I couldn't find any resources on how popular medication was or how often it was used in the 1800s, but I can bet that it was not used as often as it is today. It was used only when truly needed. There are times when you truly do need that certain drug your doctor prescribes to you, but I'd say 80% of the time you actually do not. I would try doing natural cures, such as herbs; which were used in the 1800s, natural minerals, etc.

        GMO is extremely harmful to everyone and everything. To the plants, bugs, animals, us, everyone. Dr. Axe stated: “Based on results shown in animals, it appears GMO foods pose a huge health concern for numerous reasons: Increase in allergies, problems with the endocrine system, disorders of the reproductive system, increase in aging symptoms; this is just the tip of the iceberg.” Most foods have GMO injected into it. This includes fast foods, snack foods, packaged foods, even fruits, and vegetables. GMOs are not safe. According to ehow.com, a post on GMOs claims: Some GMOs grow and ripen faster, allowing farmers to grow more crops throughout the year, increasing their income while keeping prices lower for consumers. An article published in June 2014 in "PLOS Biology" reports that plants could be engineered to make more of their own nitrogen, requiring less fertilizer. This would reduce the cost to grow food and reduce damage to the soil caused by fertilizers.” This is a lie. Dr. Mercola once said that on a Hawaii island of Molokai, “a nearly 2,000-acre test for a facility for Monsanto sits, air, and water quality are horrendous and there are reports of deaths, infertility, uncontrolled cross-pollination, bloody skin rashes, asthma and pesticide contamination in the groundwater.” GMOs do not help the environment. Dr. Mercola also said, “The reality is that GM farming practices are not sustainable, which virtually guarantees future crop collapses and subsequent famine. Nor are farmers able to save their seeds due to patent infringement and poor fertility in the seeds." GMO does no good to the people or nature. Only for Monsanto, the company that invented GMO. It gives them control and money from farmers and people.

         I'd say that 99.9% of Americans love sugar. I can't think of anyone who doesn't. And it's okay to have a sweet tooth. The problem is, America is eating way too much sugar. According to Washington Post, the average American eats over 100 grams of sugar per day; approximately 150 pounds of sugar per year! Most Americans are not aware that sugar is in almost everything they eat. Bread is sweeter than before; all the cereals, processed foods, and even toothpaste is sweetened! Most of it isn't even real sugar. Back in the 1800s, they ate approximately nine pounds of sugar per year. It jumped from 9 pounds all the way to 150 pounds. Plus, the treats they ate were made with honey, molasses, and other natural sweeteners. Americans eat fake sugar, most of it made with GMO corn (high fructose corn syrup, etc.) Most people know that sugar creates diabetics, etc. The reason why they eat it is because of addiction. Sugar is extremely addicting; this I know from personal experience. I also know that if you do go off sugar for a couple weeks, it won't be as addicting anymore. Once I went off of all refined sugar for a couple of weeks then one week I decided I would try a homemade cookie. It tasted terrible. I tried a store-bought cookie. It was even worse. All my friends were wondering why I wasn't eating any cookies and I explained to them that it didn't taste good. They were shocked. I really wasn’t craving refined sugars. In fact, I wanted an apple right there and then. My friends thought I was crazy and my leader thought it was, well, interesting. I just smiled politely and nodded. My friends asked me over and over again if I was sure I didn't want a cookie. It wasn't tempting at all. In fact, I was getting annoyed that they kept asking me if they could get me a cookie. I really didn't want a cookie. Even I was surprised with myself. The point it, refined sugar doesn't really taste good, it's just addicting. You can try to eliminate all refined sugar by switching over to natural sugars; soon your cravings for refined sugars will go away.

        In conclusion, the 1800 diet was more different than todays. People were more aware of what they were eating and thought health was more important than taste. These days, America is the opposite. Most people are unaware that GMO is in, according to Center for Food Safety, ninety-two percent of our food in America; they are unaware that sugar is in so many food products. If you truly would like to be healthy, try eating the foods they ate in the 1800s. I can guarantee you will have some sort of result.

Argumentive Essay: American Diets VS. Traditional Diets (1800s)

Most Americans choose taste and flavor over health. They think spending a little over a dollar for a dozen eggs, or spending two dollars for a gallon of milk is normal. They think the best foods are fast foods and snack foods. Most Americans are not aware that most foods are Genetically Modified. It is one of the biggest reasons so many Americans are unhealthy.

There has been a 45% increase in grain consumption. Americans now eat approximately 200 LBS of grain per year. The problem is, flour is not the same as it was in the 1800s. In fact, flour these days has 30% fewer minerals than grain used to have. White flour, which is the most common flour used, is void of nutrients. There is almost nothing good about it. Some people buy whole wheat bread which isn't any better because all they have to do is put a little wheat flour in it and fill the rest up with white flour to call it “Whole Wheat Bread.” Joel Salatin gives good advice in his book, “Folks, this ain't Normal.” He says that if you leave food out for 24-48 hours and it doesn't rot, stale, or sour, it's not real food. Americans think it's normal to leave bread sitting out at room temperature for weeks, but it's not. Back in the 1800s, the women made the bread (with real flour) early in the morning and by night the bread was eaten. They would make bread almost every day, just enough for it to be eaten that same day. If they were to let the cooked bread sit out for 24 hours, maybe even less, it would go sour, because it's real food. 

I'd say that 99.9% of Americans love sugar. I can't think of anyone who doesn't. And it's okay to have a sweet tooth. The problem is, America is eating way too much sugar. According to Washington Post, the average American eats over 100 grams of sugar per day! Approximately 150 LBS of sugar per year! Most Americans are not aware that sugar is in almost everything they eat! Bread these days are way too sweet. Americans think this is normal, but it's not. All the cereals, processed foods, and even toothpaste is sweetened! And most of it isn't even real sugar. Back in the 1800s, they ate approximately 9 LBS of sugar per year! It went from 9 LBS to 150 LBS! This is a huge jump for the amount of sugar we eat. Plus, the treats they ate were made with honey, molasses, and other natural sweeteners. Americans eat fake sugar, most of it made with GMO corn (high fructose corn syrup, etc.) 

 

Medications are another reason why Americans are unhealthy. In fact, some doctors don't immunize their children because they've seen the side effects it gives to people. Don't take medication unless you absolutely have to. Immunizing a joke. So is the flu shot. I've actually seen more people catch the flu when they get the flu shot than when they don't. Another thing I don't understand is chemotherapy. Why do doctors think chemotherapy cures cancer? Because it doesn't. In fact, it makes cancer worse. It kills both good and bad cells, and guess which cells come back first? You guessed it; bad cells. Almost everyone that has gotten cancer, when it goes away, it almost always comes back. Now, what really causes cancer in the first place? The food you eat. The sugar, the GMO, fast foods, candies, all those foods that you love, is the number one reason for cancer. You can prevent it by making food from scratch (and make sure the ingredients are GMO-free), buy organic fruits and vegetables, and avoid vegetable, canola, and soybean oils. Why? Because 90% of it GMO and it's highly processed. The most common medication is antibiotics. What do you do if you have an ear infection? Get antibiotics. What do you do if you have a stomach bug? Get antibiotics. What about any other forms of sickness? Antibiotics, antibiotics, and antibiotics. It's the only thing doctors can recommend for you if you're sick. But do antibiotics really work? Antibiotics can't identify which bacteria is good or bad, so it kills all of them. Bad bacteria comes back first and takes over, causing more infections in the future. There are other ways to heal sicknesses. For example, herbs, essential oils, homeopathics, colloidal silver, and many other ways. Now don't get me wrong. Doctors have saved people's lives. For example, they have made people start breathing again, etc. But for all those little things, little sicknesses, there is no reason to go to the doctor when you can heal yourself, just like they did in the 1800s with oils and herbs.

Americans eat their food having no idea that it's Genetically Modified. They claim that they're able to grow more food. I can bet you that they don't know that people who work with Monsanto wear big, full suits to protect them from the chemicals that their pouring on the food you eat. Or that in the white house, they don't eat GMO food because they know how bad it is for them. The reason why they made Genetically Modified foods, is so that Monsanto can patent the food. Back in the 1800s, most people had their own gardens. They would buy their wheat from a local farmer who grew non-GMO wheat. In fact, Genetically Modified didn't start becoming popular until 1984. So it didn't even exist in the 1800s! And as for fruits, it wasn't very common to eat fruits unless it grew in their area (they didn't ship fruits from one state to another). The most popular time people ate fruit were for the holidays. 

 

In conclusion, life was a lot healthier back in the 1800s. No GMOs, no medications, no fake sugar, and a very simple life. Wouldn't that be great if America could be like that today? 

Resources:

Mercola.com

DrAxe.com

UncleWileys.com

Welcome!

Welcome to Beginner Homesteader 101! Let me start by explaining to you how my blog will work. My blog is about my projects, research and argumentative essays that I'm working on or completed. This would include building things from scratch with wood, raising farm animals, baking and/or cooking from scratch, and essays on topics such as GMOs, Antibiotics, and much more! I will be posting a new essay on my blog once a week. The projects will be every few weeks. I will also be posting updates on what I am working on every now and then.

I hope you enjoy my Blog and learning from my successes and failures. =)

-Harper