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Hello, I am Debra Neiman, RN BSN.
I have worked in Neonatal Care,
at Beauregard Memorial Hospital, DeRidder for over four years. My college
experience at Louisiana State University at Alexandria, resulted in a great
deal of research papers, which are gathering dust in my office. My curriculum
at Northwestern State University also added to this wealth of information.
I hereby begin this series to
provide a way to get this information to those in the nursing field and
any other person with a passing interest in these subjects.
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Food Faddism and Nutrition
A Weight Control Dilemma
Page 3
Debra Neiman, RN, BSN, Spring 1992
Prepared for Home Economics 2010
Louisiana State University
III. Hidden Pitfalls at the Drive Thru
Furthermore, with Americans trying to be health conscious
consumers, even the food industry has to be carefully examined.
In 1986, cholesterol-conscious America was surprised to discover
that the larger fast-food chains (McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's,
Arby's, Hardee's, etc.) were frying their french fries in beef tallow.
One outlet was even discovered to be using palm oil which is a highly
saturated fat considered worse than beef tallow. Those outlets using
vegetable oils were using the highly hydrogenated varieties
consisting of 30% saturated fats.
McDonald's french fries contained 11.5 grams of fat and their
filet-o-fish sandwich contained 27.5 grams of fat. White fish should
contain 20-30% beneficial fish oils, but McDonald's tested to contain
only 1.6%. Wendy's triple hamburger weighed in with 68 grams of fat,
exceeding the total recommended daily intake for fat
(Brown, 1986).
Currently fast food companies have tried to clean up their image
by adding new menus with lower fat items. They promote more chicken
and fish items, low fat shakes, fruit pies, salads and report using
100% vegetable oils. McDonald's reports cutting fat in the
filet-o-fish sandwich by 50% as well as boasting about their new
McLean Hamburger. This item is advertised as being 91% fat free.
The fine print states the lean patty contains 9% fat before cooking.
Closer scrutiny of these claims may find that the 100% vegetable oils
are still partly saturated. The McLean Hamburger has 10 grams of fat
(4 grams saturated, 5 grams monounsaturated, and 1 gram polyunsaturated)
in a total of 320 calories. At 9 calories per gram, 10 grams of fat
total up to 36% of total calories for this sandwich. This is
considerably more fat content than 91% fat free would suggest
(McDonald's, 1991).
IV. Grocery Market Sweep
Another popular food fad is buying low fat and/or low cholesterol
packaged foods, often without understanding what the labeling means.
Few people really know that vegetable oil doesn't ever contain
cholesterol unless it is added from an animal source. A variety of
pre-packaged foods have appeared on the market to meet the demands
of a public wanting fast meals, preferably microwaveable, to prepare
at home or the office. Among these are the lines of low calorie, low
fat or fat free, and low cholesterol packaged foods. Some labels are
associated with weight loss programs such as Nutri-system, Slim-fast,
and Weight Watchers. A new label recently gained attention in this
area. ConAgra Incorporated, whose holdings include many familiar
labels (Hunt, Wesson, Orvil Redenbacher, Manwich, Peter Pan, La Choy,
Swift Premium, Butterball, Snack Pak, Armour, Chun King and Swiss Miss)
is now the country's second-largest food company. In 1985 the
chairman, Charles Harper, suffered a heart attack. He reacted, as
do many who suffer a cardio-vascular event, by quitting his 2 1/2
pack a day cigarette habit, changing his "hearty" diet and by looking
at his work with a new perspective. As a result, he is responsible
for the "Healthy Choice" food line which includes breakfasts, dairy
desserts, soups, and frozen dinners. These low calorie food items
are packaged with label readers in mind. The labeling quotes NCEP
recommendations and each individual package's compliance is
illustrated with simple pie charts. The percent of total calories
from fat and diet exchanges per serving based on Exchange Lists for
Menu Planning from the American Diabetes Association are also
included (Ruff, 1992).
IV. Food Pyramid
Good marketing practices are important for selling to the public
and are also employed by the US Department of Agriculture. Early in
1991 there was a brief introduction of their "Food Pyramid". This was
intended to be a meaningful way to illustrate changes in nutritional
knowledge, and although applauded by nutritionists, it was pulled
before official publication. The pyramid redesigned the concepts
prevalent since the four food group chart was originally created in
1956. A representation of the pyramid has the bread and cereal group
at the broad bottom, indicating a basis for the diet, with fruits
and vegetables on the next level. The milk and meat groups share the
third level and fats, oils and sweets as indicated by the small peak
are for sparing use.
Click on Pyramid for Larger Picture
The pyramid was stated to be too confusing by Agriculture Secretary
Edward Madigan. His decision followed anti-pyramid lobbying by the
meat and dairy industry
(Stoltz, 1991).
V. Madison Avenue Madness
Advertising in our society influences what foods we buy or consume.
One only needs to watch television, listen to radio, read a magazine
or take a drive through town to be inundated with alternative ways to
satisfy the basic need to consume nutrients. Advertising's purpose is
to sell a product. If a person can be convinced they are 'hungry'
for that product they will buy it. Hunger is not the only reason
people are motivated to eat. External eating cues such as the sight
or aroma of food or even a clock incorrectly set at the usual meal
time can make people want to eat
(Coon, 1989).
Reward is a large part of the equation also. This is something
Madison Avenue learned well long ago. Examples of the phrases
"Have it your way.." and "You deserve a break today..." are
permanently ingrained into our culture and reflect a mindset that
goes back to childhood. Who has not been told, "You may have your
dessert after..."? Ivan Pavlov pioneered using food as a factor in
behavior modification with his studies on classical conditioning.
While he did not invent this technique, he did identify the forces
at work. Persons respond to a stimulus, hunger, by eating and are
rewarded by a lack of hunger or with satiety. The current technique
involves, first, associate satiety with feeling good and second, if
you want to feel good...buy this, eat this, reward yourself
(Coon, 1989).
VII. Physiological Motivation
For the food to be a motivation for behavior it has to have value
to the subject. Since humans have evolved as highly sensory organisms,
our senses contribute to the 'flavor' of food which is a primary
factor in the psychology of eating. Flavor can be determined as an
association of taste, smell, texture and temperature. Humans have
receptors for four taste categories: salt, sour, sweet, and bitter.
A child has more sweet taste buds than he will as an adult
(Erb, 1968). This can lead to
fat cell hyperplasia in childhood if limits are not set on the
consumption of simple carbohydrates
(Long, 1991).
An adult can sense up to 10,000 different odors and children have
more capacity than this. This may account for a child's insistence
that something tastes 'funny', although it tastes fine to an adult
(Carola, 1990). The sense
of smell is very closely associated with taste although there are
separate receptors for smell. The olfactory receptors in the nasal
passages receive external stimulation, as when sniffing food. There
is also an internal smell when the air in the mouth is forced over
the food and up the nasal pharynx to stimulate the receptors in the
nasal passages (Erb, 1968, p. 28). The two sensations are so closely
associated that a person cannot taste food normally with blocked
nasal passages from a cold. Astronauts experience this effect when
the lack of gravity allows fluid to accumulate in the head and cause
congestion to the nasal passages
(Carola, 1990).
Texture of the food as it is handled, bitten, and moved around
the mouth is very important. It has to feel right. The mashed potatoes
must be smooth, the strawberry seeds rough on the tongue, and the
steak tender. A rubbery bite of steak just doesn't taste right. Sound
of the food adds to its appeal. People like to hear certain foods;
crunch of celery, crispness of potato chips and the sizzle of steak.
The temperature can make or break the appeal of food. The beer must
be cold and the pizza hot. Lastly the eye appeal influences such
decision as adding red and green peppers or chopped red cabbage and
radishes to a green salad to make it 'taste' better. Everyone knows
pickles are green and grape jelly is purple. Anything else just
would not 'taste' right
(Erb).
Yet our senses can be tricked by a conditioned food aversion.
A favorite cheese danish will be forever avoided if subconsciously
associated with an illness. Chemotherapy treatment for cancers also
include protocol techniques to avoid causing taste aversions
associated with the nausea and vomiting which accompanies treatment
(Coon, 1989).
Hunger is complex and is involved with much more of the body's
systems than simply an empty stomach. While some people experience
hunger as stomach contractions, many people experience feelings of
weakness or shakiness. Even if the nerves to the stomach are cut,
hunger is not abolished. The hypothalamus of the brain responds to
serum glucose levels, signals from the liver and the stomach to
produce "hunger" and influence eating. Studies of the hypothalamus
and eating in rats have turned up some dramatic results. Damage to
certain areas of the hypothalamus can result in refusal to eat to the
point of death. If other areas of the hypothalamus are damaged the
rat will overeat and become grossly obese, often reaching a weight
of 1000 grams. This is equivalent to a human gaining up to a weight
of 1000 pounds (Coon, 1989).
Americans spend more than $30 billion each year trying to loose
weight. A national health panel examining weight-loss programs
reported that obesity is "not a problem of will power". For many
people it may not be possible to permanently achieve a lower weight
than currently held. Also millions are trying to loose weight who
don't need to, especially young women
(Nelson, 1992).
Other psychological forces contribute to obesity and many
eating disorders. Overeating has been diagnosed as a compulsion and
usually indicates maladaption to underlying problems not associated
with nutritional need. Addicts often trade one addiction for another
and even dieting can become an addiction. This is evidenced by the
growing problem of malnutrition associated with anorexia. The cause
is directly related to the current ideal of feminine beauty, an
overly thin, gaunt look. The celebrities and models which typify
this ideal are often boarderline or actually anorexic, and many
admit to episodes of bulimia in the past. In trying to reach this
ideal many women find themselves trapped into starving themselves or
relying on maintaining their weight through bulimia
(Taylor, 1987).
VIII. Own the Fat
A popular notion is that there is a skinny person inside every
fat person, trying to get out. This idea works against the congruency
of self image necessary to achieve a health solution to the weight
dilemma. The "protective covering" of fat must become part of the
person's concept of themselves before it can be lost permanently. As
long as the extra pounds are viewed as other than self, they serve
psychological needs for separation, boundaries, or protection. It is
a method of coping with issues the person is not wanting to face. One
therapy is to take a realistic look at ones physical self without
clothing in a full length mirror. This aids in 'claiming the fat' and
establishing a true boundary of self. A person needs to realize that
by loosing weight they will not turn into a different person, only
loose excess fat from with the cells
(Bilich, 1983).
If necessary counseling can be invaluable in aiding a food or
dieting addict. Attaining a congruent self image and acceptance of
self worth are rewards of learning appropriate and effective coping
for whatever emotional issues are present. Those issues will probably
remain. However, by not dealing with them through body size, the
individual is better prepared to deal with nutritional needs
separately (Bilich, 1983).
IX. Making Sense
Moderate exercise is important for good health, proper use of
nutrients, and a sense of well being. Exercise burns some calories
while building and maintaining lean body mass. An increase of lean
body mass will increase the resting metabolic rate, since energy
requirements maintenance of muscle is greater than adipose tissue.
Most people can engage in a walking regime for exercise. It doesn't
require special training, equipment or clothes, except for a good
pair of shoes, and if you take a friend along, it can be quite social
(Remington, 1983).
Even the elderly George Burns advised, "to walk whenever you
can...walking is even easier than making a martini. I take one foot
and put it in front of the other, then I take the other foot and put
it in front of the other foot, and before I know it I'm walking. And
you don't even need an olive"
(1983).
One good program is to walk for 30 to 60 minutes, three to five
times per week. Frequency per week and duration of the exercise
period are more important for weight loss and maintenance than a
strenuous workout. To check for the correct speed of walking, take a
ten second pulse count after walking for two minutes and check the
rate with the guidelines
(Appendix B)
for 70-80% of maximum heart
rate for your age. Another simple check is that if you are breathing
too hard to carry on a conversation, than you need to slow down.
However, if your breathing rate will allow you to sing, you need to
speed up a little. Also, as a person gets in better shape physically,
the speed needed to maintain 80% maximum heart rate will also increase.
Beginners can start out with 20 minutes per day for one week and add
five minutes each week until up to 60 minutes per day. Consistency
with a good exercise routine will make positive changes in the body's
use of stored fats as well as nutrients taken in
(Remington, 1983).
Also, weight bearing exercise, like walking, has demonstrated
benefits of avoiding calcium loss in bones, while strengthening leg
muscles which aid in venous circulation, and promoting regular
elimination patterns. The National Dietary Guidelines Committee has
published its seven guidelines to choose a healthful and enjoyable
diet.
- 1. Eat a variety of foods.
- 2. Choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol.
- 3. Choose a diet with plenty of vegetable, fruits, and grain products.
- 4. Maintain a health weight.
- 5. Use sugars only in moderation.
- 6. Use salt and sodium only in moderation.
- 7. If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation.
(Nesheim, 1990).
Fad diets, gimmicks, or treatments are not the answer to solving
problems with weight. Permanent weight management can be achieved by
meeting the body's needs from a nutritional standpoint, engaging in a
sensible regular exercise program, and maintaining a realistic,
congruent self image.
Appendix B
10 Second Heart Rate Guideline
(For people who have (For people who have
NOT exercised much - exercised for a while -
AGE 70 % OF MAXIMUM) 80% OF MAXIMUM)
******** ********************* ***********************
20 23 27
30 22 25
40 21 24
50 20 23
60 19 21
70 17 20
******** ******************** **********************
From "How To Lower Your Fat Thermostat"
(Remington, 1983)
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Copyright, ©1997 Debra Kay Neiman,
RN BSN
E-Mail me at: crystalblue@usa.net
