In Defense of Food
11. What did Weston Price discover about the different populations that he studied?
The first thing Price had learned was that isolated populations had no need of a dentist, and he found little evidence of dental diseases among the primitive races. Morevoer he had discovered that those populations consumed more vitamins A and D than the Americans. He could not identify a perfect diet, though he came up to an idea that eating fresh foods from animals and plants grown on soils that were themselves rich in nutrients lead to good health condition.
12. «What would happen if we were to start thinking about food as less of a thing and more of a relationship?» (Pollan 102).
This quote is tightly connected to the title of the book because of the similar message. The main idea of this message is that we should reconsider our attitude and pay more attention to what we eat. The «thing» and the «relationship» both serve as images to make it clearer for the reader.
13. What does the title of subsection 3 (of Part 2-Chapter 2) refer to: “From Quality to Quantity”?
This title refers to the tendency of harvesting crops that contain less vitamins and mineral elements compared to previous harvests.
14. What does “nutritional inflation” refer to?
Nutritional inflation refers to the results of researches which show a decline in nutrient content regardless of the increasing amount of crops production.
15. What is lacking in a diet of seeds that is provided by a diet of leaves?
The lacking elements in a diet of seeds that is provided by a diet of leaves are omega-3 fatty acids.
16. Do you think that there are any Americans that may be deficient in omega-6 fatty acids (FA)? Explain.
Considering the fact that Americans adopted to the western diet and substitute omega-3’s with omega-6 fatty acids, there is a little chance an American might be deficient in them.
17. What are typical ratios of omega 6 / omega 3 FA in the diet of Americans? What would be a more optimal ratio?
The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in the typical American today stands at more than 10 to 1. It would be more optimal if the ratio was closer to 3 to 1.
18. What are some of the possible consequences of having such a high omega 6 / omega 3 FA ratio? Do you think that this has impacted your health (or that of family members) in any way? Explain.
The main results of having high omega 3 ratio are prevention of heart diseases as well as dampening the inflammation response. Conversely, high omega 6 ratio may end in many of the chronic diseases associated with the Western diet, including heart disease and diabetes.
What are nutrients?
Nutrients are elements needed for health and that the body cannot produce or produces less than it is required to support health.
Why exactly do we need to eat?
We need to eat because nutrients come in our bodies with food we consume.
Why do our cells need …
