Can Home Cooking Reverse the Obesity Epidemic?
The article, “Can Home Cooking Reverse the Obesity Epidemic?” was written by Anahad O’Connor to address the issue of processed foods as the main cause of obesity and other effects it may cause. Nutrition experts blame processed foods for the epidemic and suggest that cooking at home will turn things around. Among people with limited time and money, they are mostly affected by the epidemic. From the research conducted by scientists in the institutes of health, most of the people that are suffering from obesity ate more calories, which made them gain weight quickly from a diet of ultra-processed foods such as baked potato chips, fruit juice, diet beverages, processed meat, and frozen entrees. The article states that most people who ate a significant amount of these foods have had increased cardiovascular disease and mortality rates compared to those who avoid them. From the findings, most experts have prompted the Americans to limit the consumption of the foods, which appears to be a great challenge (Anahad, 2019). The ultra-processed foods have become dominant in the lives of Americans, most especially the low-income earners. They are dependent on since they are convenient, and in most cases, they are the only option available since they are cheaper. On the other hand, the rich families and the working class, in most cases, shy away from costly foods that are costly, require a lot of time while preparing, and spoil quickly. For these reasons, they prefer to turn to foods that are easily cooked and have long storage duration.
The article “It’s Not Just Salt, Sugar, Fat: Study Finds Ultra-Processed Foods Drive Weight Gain” addresses the growing rates of obesity caused by the rise in the number of people consuming Ultra-processed foods. The foods are manufactured from industrial ingredients that are cheap and engineered to be super tasty, high in salt, sugar, and fat. From research conducted, the findings were that eating from an ultra-processed foods diet drives an individual to overeat and gain more weight compared to eating from minimally processed foods (NPR.ORG. 2019). Although people are encouraged to consume more of unprocessed foods from the findings, it appears to be a challenge to people who are used to the foods as they are easy and soft to swallow, which is the main reason for overeating. These foods also cause flipping of hormonal changes on appetite, not unlike eating unprocessed foods where the hormones are suppressed.