Scary foods: Aaron E. Carroll on healthy eating without fear

Avoid salt. Avoid sugar. Avoid fat. Avoid meat. Avoid avoidance. Hah! You weren’t expecting that last one, were you? Aaron E. Carroll, Indiana University professor of pediatrics, offers some unexpected diet advice in this November 2017 New York Times essay.

Read it here: Carroll, "Relax, you don’t need to ‘eat clean’”

 

1. To support his argument, Carroll provides many examples of recent “food fears,” including salt and fat. List all the other frightening ingredients that Carroll discusses. Is the long list of scary foods necessary to support his argument, or would it have been more persuasive if he had focused more deeply on just two or three items? Why do you think so? Explain your reasoning.
2. Almost hidden in Carroll’s list of unnecessary food fears is the assertion of a growing US trend of anti-intellectualism and unscientific thinking. What evidence does Carroll provide to support his assertion? Do you agree that such a trend would be alarming and undesirable? Why or why not?  
3. Carroll employs many hyperlinks to studies and reports to show his They Say. Why might Carroll have chosen to include hyperlinks rather than quoting and paraphrasing those sources? Is his choice effective? Why or why not?
4. Are there particular foods or ingredients that you avoid (or think you should avoid more than you already do)? Do those foods pose immediate danger to you (as in the case of an extreme allergy)? Are you responding to a demonstrated long-term risk (as in a genetic predisposition towards diabetes)? Are you following the instructions of a medical practitioner? Are you following trends and advice from family, friends, or things you read or see online? Examine your own food attitudes and practices, then write a direct response to Carroll. Use his essay as your They Say, and provide examples from your experience that support or refute (or some of each) his argument. (You may want to frame your essay in the form of a letter to Carroll; you may even want to consider sending it to him.)

Comments

[Vivian]

1. Aside from salt and fat, Carroll also discussed food fear toward cholesterol, meat, gluten, monosodium glutamate (MSG), genetically modified organism (GMO). I think in this way, he made himself more persuasive. That is, he not only gave the readers a sense of what "food fear" is like, but he also dispelled rumors about the ingredients.

2. Carroll used the case of MSG and GMO to illustrate the problem of unscientific food fear. For MSG, although anti-MSG cultures related certain symptoms with the consumption of MSG, there was no scientific evidence showed that people suffer from the symptoms after they eat MSG-contained food. As for GMO, a poll showed that almost 60 percent people believed that GMOs were unsafe, while only 11 percent of the scientists believed so. I agreed that the phenomenon is alarming. Scientists are well-educated in their professional field of research, and they know better than regular people. If people don't trust them but believe in scary rumors instead, that will be a concerning situation. But I also understand some people's concern that it is likely that scientists can be bribed by the food company to cover the facts about some ingredients.

[Man Yee Au]

I agree with Carroll’s argument that we should use our critical mind to consider whether the food is healthy or not. Due to the progress of society, more people start to be aware of the food they eat, and these people have the ability to purchase healthier and expensive food. Therefore, they want to avoid all unhealthy food to maintain their health. In addition, because of the rapid development of technology, people can easily get the information in regard to food through the internet. However, this kind of information usually exaggerates the negative sides of food and ignores some significant criteria, such as the people’s body conditions and the frequency of consumption. Unfortunately, many people still believe the information and stay away from the “unhealthy” food. I agree with the author’s argument since people should keep a critical mind to understand the nutrients and body reactions. People should not have an early conclusion to any food. For example, some people claim that GMO food is unhealthy and unsafe to humans’ bodies because the change of the gene may increase the risk of mutation. According to the article “Five Good Reasons to Support GMOs,” the author refutes people’s unbiased claims and further discusses the advantages of GMO food. The author writes, “The testing process can take 7-10 years, and must include evaluations of potential risks to humans and livestock as well as potential risks to wildlife and the environment” (“Five Good Reasons to Support GMOs”). This statement shows that growing and eating GMO food is safe and healthy to people, and those opponents’ claim is wrong. This is a good example to show that many people do not think critically before avoiding some food. Indeed, people should do more research when they get the information about food. As the result, they can eat a variety of healthy food and get the desirable nutrients through eating properly. Consequently, I agree with Carroll’s argument.

[Bob Stan DD]

But what if you aren't scared of healthy eating but you are scared of lettuce

[marylou grace DD]

what if you are not scared because you have a high metabolism and love eating this food?

[cassandra marthrel]

The society pushes everyone to be healthy, which is great, but being trying to be healthy cost even more money than what most people have. A lot of families can barely afford food, yet alone healthy food. GMO foods are being more and more common in the U.S., so how would we know what's good or not? Some say it is, some say it's not. We really don't know what were eating we just get an assumption.

[Ben.]

Carroll made a lot of interesting points and talked about many of the foods we consume daily, but also she want us to make our own decisions, because of the facts that some of the myths or risks associated with some of the foods has not been scientifically proven by the health organizations and they are contradictions in some.
In as much as we want a healthy society wish that every one will be able eat healthy, the organic foods are way too expensive, as they say 'All fingers are not equal", so not every one will able to afford it. My best take in all these, is that no matter what you eat or consume, its better to do it moderately.

[Crystal Chang]

I agree with Carroll’s views in the article. In the article, the author, Aaron E. Carroll talks about America’s hysteria and paranoia over food. Carroll explains that the average American consumes just over three grams of salt per day. However, many Americans avoid salt and live in fear over over-consuming it because of the damage it can do to the heart. Carroll then informs the reader that Americans must also be aware that avoiding salt and consuming too little of it can also lead to health problems such as extremely low blood pressure. The article also explains the minute risk of consuming certain foods such as bacon. Carroll stated that if one were to consume a serving of bacon per day, their risk of developing colon cancer would only increase by a little less than one percent. The article explains that gluten has become America’s enemy due to the fears of allergy. However, less than one percent of Americans actually have a gluten allergy. Worldwide, gluten accounts for twenty percent of the total calories consumed. Because of this fear, people have spent over $23 billion dollars on gluten-free foods. Avoiding gluten can also have negative health consequences. Gluten-free foods are often lacking in vitamin B, folate, and iron compared to regular gluten products. The problem is that people are too impressionable with what they hear about food without doing the research to see if it is even true. According to a 2015 poll, 60% of people thought that GMO’s were unsafe. However, only 11% of scientists from the American Association for the Advancement of Science thought it was unsafe. The only thing one should avoid is unnecessary fear over these foods. Because often, the claims and statements that people hear about many of the foods Americans eat are simply rumors or untrue. Most of them lack factual evidence, and should be taken lightly.

[Crystal Chang]

I agree with Carroll’s views in the article. In the article, the author, Aaron E. Carroll talks about America’s hysteria and paranoia over food. Carroll explains that the average American consumes just over three grams of salt per day. However, many Americans avoid salt and live in fear over over-consuming it because of the damage it can do to the heart. Carroll then informs the reader that Americans must also be aware that avoiding salt and consuming too little of it can also lead to health problems such as extremely low blood pressure. The article also explains the minute risk of consuming certain foods such as bacon. Carroll stated that if one were to consume a serving of bacon per day, their risk of developing colon cancer would only increase by a little less than one percent. The article explains that gluten has become America’s enemy due to the fears of allergy. However, less than one percent of Americans actually have a gluten allergy. Worldwide, gluten accounts for twenty percent of the total calories consumed. Because of this fear, people have spent over $23 billion dollars on gluten-free foods. Avoiding gluten can also have negative health consequences. Gluten-free foods are often lacking in vitamin B, folate, and iron compared to regular gluten products. The problem is that people are too impressionable with what they hear about food without doing the research to see if it is even true. According to a 2015 poll, 60% of people thought that GMO’s were unsafe. However, only 11% of scientists from the American Association for the Advancement of Science thought it was unsafe. The only thing one should avoid is unnecessary fear over these foods. Because often, the claims and statements that people hear about many of the foods Americans eat are simply rumors or untrue. Most of them lack factual evidence, and should be taken lightly.

[Jose Hernandez]

I am not sure whether or not to agree with Aaron E. Carroll. I understand the point that he is trying to promote. One should not live in constant fear about what they eat. One cannot ignore the fact that some food is unhealthy for someone’s body. Is it all food that can be eaten with proportion? Or are there some exceptions, and some foods should be completely avoided? I think the main reason to my confusion is that I really do not do enough research on what is good for the human body and what is bad for the human body. My lack of knowledge in the subject does cause me to be frightened when it comes to eating certain types of food. I fall under Carroll’s category of people that is slow to update my source of information. Carroll does make some good arguments about how little one knows about whether or not something is bad because it truly is bad, or because mass hysteria deems it bad. I liked how Carroll used the example of gluten-free products. I have done research on the topic and I never saw what was bad about it, but even though I did my own research, I heard many people argue that it is bad for people. This can be because different people use different sources, and they may be sources that try to lean on their own side rather than the other side. I also related when Carroll mentioned that when one tries to avoid food, the response can be to overcompensate in the other direction. I am very guilty in doing such things, like avoid drinking soda, and overcompensate by drinking a lot of water, which surprisingly can be bad for one. I think Carroll’s overall point is that everyone should not live in fear and eat what they want. Of course there are limits to every diet, and one should not go to the extremes on either end. In the end, I guess I do agree with Carroll message about portion control.

[Quynh Luong]

I agree that to be healthy, food is not what people should be avoiding; instead, they should be avoiding and restraining their needs. The human body needs salt, sugar, protein, and even fat. None of that is unhealthy. What is bad for people is consuming excessive amount. With the wide variety of food people could choose from now, people need to be more aware and hard on themselves to be in good shape. Today, people do not just eat because their bodies want to, but also because of their mind’s craving. Eventually, their bodies take in more than they need. Therefore, their bodies have to work harder to process as well as get rid of those unwanted nutrition. That is one of the main causes for many diseases. Excess fat can cause heart diseases. Excess salt can cause kidney failure. As Aaron Carroll writes in “Relax, You Don’t Have to ‘Eat Clean’” that “a closer look at the research behind our food fears shows that many of our most demonized foods are actually fine for us.” He gives the example of salt, saying “Eating too little salt may be just as dangerous as eating too much.” This proves that the food people are eating is not harmful. What bad for people’s health is their decision. A treat once in a while does not hurt, but having more food than necessary could make people health go downhill fast. It is also wasteful to eat too much. It is not easy for people to restraint their need, especially when fast foods are so delicious, cheap and convenient. However, the good news is that people do not have to intentionally avoid their favorite food. They can still enjoy the food they love, as long as they keep it at a reasonable amount. After all, the food is not bad for people, it is their cravings that make them sick.

[Arielle]

I agree that fear is the most upsetting part about eating healthier. There are so many opinions and uneducated theories out there that people fear choosing the wrong one. Another problem is that many of these healthy eating options actually just have a placebo affect in which case they may not really be working at all.
Moderation in everything is probably the best way to get into eating healthy. Immediately cutting out foods will cause shock to the body, more intense cravings, and ultimately eating high calorie foods. Don't fear the foods, just self monitor the eating of foods. Research the foods and make sure that it has scientific research behind its affects. Lower intake of trans and saturated fats and overall healthy eating is achievable.

[Addison]

1. Carroll used the examples of fat, salt, cholesterol, red meat, gluten, monosodium glutamate, and genetically modified organisms to demonstrate "food fear". I believe that this makes him more persuasive because he is likely to address at least one irrational food fear that a reader has heard before.

[Billie]

I agree that eating healthy is a good practice, but often can become a problem in some people’s lives. Many go overboard when trying to stay or get healthy. While I do my best to eat healthy I often find myself slipping or saying ‘just one.’ I have learned that by making goals for myself to eat better I end up achieving them, sometimes I even reward myself for my good work.

[Cheryl]

One thing about food, when talking about it, you need to differentiate. In other words, saturated fats, such as found in french fries are bad. However, healthy fats are good. Organic eggs are good. Eggs that come from egg farms where chickens are feed additives to increase production artificially are not. There needs to be more explanation behind the terms used.

[Mansukh]

The article titled Relax, You Don’t Need to ‘Eat Clean’ by Aaron E. Carroll talked about the fear of food that people have in today's society. It talked about how people in today's world worry too much about the impact food has on our health and how this “fear of food” is even more dangerous than the food itself. The author went on to explain how scientific facts are often misinterpreted and that many foods aren’t as bad as they seem. His overall point was that food is suppose to be a source of joy and that this “un-intellectual fear of food” takes away from that. I found this article to be very interesting because most articles written by doctors talk about the negative impact unhealthy foods have on our body, yet this doctor is going against that. Although this article was interesting, it left me with many questions. If the foods that are labeled as bad really aren't that unhealthy, why does America have so many health problems? Currently, America faces many problems with high rates of obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and many other diseases. Most of these diseases are directly linked with a person’s diet yet Carroll is arguing that the foods we eat aren’t that bad. The fact of the matter still remains that our country is plagued with many health problems that need to be taken seriously.

[Josh]

Carroll believes that Americans do not think scientifically and this is the main reason why it is so easy to persuade people that a certain food is bad for you. Carroll gives multiple examples of how Americans were told that certain foods were bad for them and they believed it even though it contradicted scientific research. I definitely think that this trend is alarming and dangerous. If people don’t believe the facts, then they will continue to live their lives in a non-optimal matter. Carroll even addresses this. He says that limiting your diet to certain foods is bad for you. Doing this can even deplete your body of certain vitamins. Not only that, but it makes food choices much more narrow and difficult to make. I think that people need to be more open about what they eat and eat what they want. Eating a variety of foods will always be more healthy than just sticking to a few different kinds of foods that people say are healthy.

[Tiara McDougald]

I agree with Carroll's point about how we should not start to avoid certain foods just because it may contain salts, fats, gluten or msg. Carroll mentions that eating foods like bacon everyday could possibly cause someone to develop colon cancer and much more health issues. By avoiding these foods then our diet becomes limited and we may not receive all of our nutrients we need with the foods that are "allowed" in our diet. Then again, too much or too little of anything can cause damages as well. I think overall we should just find a balance between the "good" and the " bad" foods.

[Ginalynne DeCesare]

I am glad to have seen that the author, Carroll, brought up the notion that avoiding certain foods and labeling them as "bad" can actually be worse for your health than eating them. I think it is very important that he stated that by labeling foods as "bad", "tempting", and "unhealthy", you are more likely to binge on other foods in order to compensate for not eating the ones you're trying to avoid. I think everybody has a food that they try to avoid whether it be cake, candy, chips, fast food; and what many of these people don't realize is that these foods are not actually that bad for us. It is only when you get carried away eating them, such as binging on them or eating them excessively. If you eat these "bad" foods in a controlled portion in moderation, you can enjoy what you like without worrying about it harming your body. I also like how Carroll pointed out how Americans love to overlook the science behind things and just believe what they think common sense is. Believing that some foods are "evil" is super unscientific and if you're going to cut out something in your diet, it should be fear. You can eat clean and relatively healthy for a week or so, then have an occasional dessert or happy meal and it won't harm you at all, it will actually boost your metabolism to burn more fat.

[Tomiko McGovern]

People try hundreds of different diets trying to lose weight and be healthy. They hear what other people say and totally ignore the scientific facts. It starts off well for a few days but one night the person loses control and binges on bad food. It is a vicious cycle many struggle to compete against. Aaron E. Carroll’s article, “ Relax, You don’t need to eat ‘Clean’”, will change the way a person views pizza or a french fry. His view is that everyone overlooks the scientific data. People avoid amazing foods like donuts, cookies and ice cream because they are trying to eat healthy. Avoiding these foods only leads to over compensation of another food. For example, drinking too much water is worse than having a cup of soda. Carroll also speaks about groups people tend to fear the most. The stars of his articles are salt, MSG and GMOs. One group that I believe is important is salt. Salt is known to cause cardiovascular problems. This is only unhealthy if salt is consumed is large amounts. Avoiding it could lead to low blood pressure. The average american actually consumes the perfect amount of sodium. Eating well does not mean cutting out all the ‘bad’ and ‘unhealthy’ foods. It means eating balanced and having normal portion sizes. There is no need to fear food.

[Tomiko McGovern]

Eating healthy is a challenge for Americans across the nation. There are widespread fears of certain foods that cause people to avoid eating them. What they do not know is that avoiding these foods can actually harm them. For example, people limit the amount of salt they eat in fear that it will lead to cardiovascular disease. In truth, the average American eats 3 grams of sodium per day, which is the perfect amount. It actually may be dangerous to eat too little. Carroll also mentions fats, gluten, GMOs and MSG. All of these are more examples of items commonly avoided. These are necessary in his argument because it shows a small portion of the foods people avoid without knowing the facts. MSG is a very controversial amino acid. In 1986, a scientific journal reported MSG to be the cause of several different symptoms. This sent everyone into a frenzy. Even companies stopped using it. While MSG is not important to our diets, there is no reason people should avoid it. This shows how people ignore the scientific facts. There is better technology and research that proves that the case against MSG just is not strong enough. All of these foods are fine to eat in acceptable portions. Carroll does not focus on a singular group to show that various types of food are feared while in reality, there is nothing wrong with them. When these foods are eaten in moderation, they will not harm humans.

[Jordan Stonesifer]

I agree that eating all foods in moderation may not harm the body, but, it needs to be understood that there are good and bad foods. for example: eggs produced in farms where additives that increase production rate are bad while eggs that come from chickens who are cage free are more healthier. Another example are fats. there are healthy fats and then there are saturated and trans fats. Both saturated and trans fat are the fats that cause your body to get, well, fatter. Healthy fats are actually used within the body instead of going to storage.

[Stephanie Burt]

I agree with Carroll's article that we don't need to eat clean to be healthy. If we stress over what we eat or highly restrict different types of foods it can lead to excessive cravings and binging. Carroll mentions salt, gluten, and MSG. If eaten, these foods wont harm you, however, it is common knowledge that any food in a large amount can harm your health. Overall, this article is helpful for those who are worried about the foods they eat and are doing their best to be healthier.

[Brooke Harshbarger]

Carroll says that eating "healthy" and "clean" has made people afraid of food and causes anxiety when choosing what to eat. I agree with this idea. From attempting to be a "healthy eater" myself, I know that it can be mentally difficult to try and figure out what is supposed to be good and what is not. You can read all sorts of articles on the internet about how one thing is bad for you and one thing is good for you. It's very commonly believed that low sodium is good for everyone, but as a pre-nursing major, I'm learning that is not entirely true. You need certain elements to your diet that you shouldn't cut out so much of and everyone needs different amounts of nutrients to be healthy. When starting out on a healthy diet, many people think they need to cut out fats and carbs and just eat protein. You need carbs and fats for energy but you should be eating healthy fats and carbs, not copious amounts of bread or lard. Healthy fats are actually very good for you. If you only feed your body protein, you are going to be extremely tired and hungry. Eating healthy can be very stressful but you can eliminate some of the stress by doing real research and paying attention to actual statistics, not skimming an article and seeing that there is a small chance that it could have a bad effect on one factor of your diet.

[Soukaina Las]

I disagree with Carroll's view that we should not stress over what kind of food we stuff ourselves with, because recent studies have proven that eating some food like processed meat in large amounts has been linked to increased risk of colorectal, pancreatic and prostate cancer. Statistics show that the USA is one of the high-cancer-rate nations. Approximately 38.4% of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer at some point during their lifetimes. I believe food is definitely one of the culprits. In contrast to the USA, Egypt -for instance- has one of the lowest cancer rates in the world. And that's due to the food they eat which is mostly organic and not genetically modified. Also, in Egypt they don't consume too much meat because cattle is not as abundant as in the US. To sum up, during the medieval era, Arab physicians used to call stomach "home of all diseases" and that was for a reason.

[AJ]

Carroll explains how the ingredients that we have to be far from are; salt, processed red meat, bacon and gluten as the most recent. At the beginning of his article he explains how people often try to take care of themselves measuring the amount of food they are eating; however, anxiety also affects health because of the stress involved before actually eating. Carroll’s expresses his concern when it comes to salt, explaining how the high intake of it makes your prone to high blood pressure. Carroll explains “Many of the doctors and nutritionists who recommend avoiding certain foods fail to properly explain the magnitude of their risks.” (Carroll). According to Carroll’s research paper, some studies say that processed red meat in large amounts is associated with an increased relative risk of developing cancer (Carroll). Usually red meats take longer to digest and its consume is usually recommended every three days or once a week. Carroll emphasizes how people have become obsessed with different foods over the years creating fear of what we eat. I agree with Carroll’s opinion when he mentions that “Food should be a cause for pleasure, not panic” (Carroll). Nowadays there are applications that help you track the quantity of calories you eat, but it can also create an obsession and loose the value of enjoying a meal.