Eat Eastern
The Western diet is spreading rapidly throughout the world. Today most Americans consume a daily 500 calories more than in 1970. In the 1950’s one out of every ten people were obese. Now, one out of every three people are obese. Western meals typically include foods high in salt, which can increase blood pressure sugar, and fat,which increases cholesterol. Trademark foods in the western diet include a classic burger and fries, steak, ribs, and many other red meat based meals.
According to studies published by The Lancet, obesity rates over the course of 30 years have doubled. In the World Health Organization’s publication about the top ten causes of death, four out of the ten are related to diet. Why is that? Diet has always been proven to strongly coincide with one’s physical health. The hallmarks of a western diet are an overconsumption of refined sugars, animal proteins, and saturated fats, and an underconsumption of plant based fibers.
Fructose, a common refined sugar, and palmitic acid, a saturated fat, are both commonly found in candy bars, and are very harmful to your immune system.
Your body can confuse palmitic acid for E Coli. Because of this, your body’s cells will start to attack it, resulting in a low level of inflammation and vulnerability to other illnesses. The bacteria in your intestines can also be strongly affected by the usual western meals. There is mostly good bacteria in your gut, which can process nutrients from food, protect from intestinal infections, and make vitamin K, which aids in the making of blood clotting proteins. If you eat an excess of processed foods, you can push out the good bacteria and make room for the bad ones. Not only will this diet affect your intestines and immune system, but it also increases the chance of colon and prostate cancer. In a study testing the impact of diet on African Americans and South Africans, it was found that African Americans had a 5000% greater chance of developing colon cancer.
The eastern diet trumps the western diet when compared to how healthy one or the other is. The eastern diet is low in red meat and animal based fats, and is abundant in vegetables, fruits, whole grains and seafood. There are many health benefits that boost your cardiovascular health.When you are eating less red meat, you consume less saturated fat. When you eat a lot of saturated fat, much like the amount you would take in when eating a western meal, the amount of cholesterol in your arteries rises substantially.
Since there isn’t a strong presence of red meat and other such sources of saturated fat present in the Eastern diet, the risk of coronary heart disease and other heart problems goes down. Not only can the Eastern diet help decrease the chance of heart problems, but it can also reduce the risk of developing mental health problems. An analysis published by the British Medical Journal looked over 12 studies testing the effects of an Eastern diet on Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, in total containing 1.5 million people.They found that overall the eastern diet decreased the chances of developing mental health issues. I believe that we make a choice whenever we eat. Either we can give in to the temptations of the carcinogen-filled processed foods in the western diet, or we can start choosing to take the healthier route and change the way we eat. If everyone changed the way they ate, the mortality rate would decrease substantially. Eastern meals can help us live long, healthy lives, and that is what I wish to have.
