Standard American Diet Research Paper

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Every year, millions of Americans undergo major heart surgeries costing billions of dollars. To treat cancer, patients deal with harsh medications and treatments with a handful of unpleasant side effects. Medical researchers like John McDougall, John Robbins, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, and Caldwell Esselstyn never cease to search for new safer treatments to treat the top diseases in the country. They, along with many others, are discovering that a plant-based diet can prevent and treat the top killers in America. Americans face problems such as heart disease, cancer, and obesity in the form of hamburgers and milkshakes. This paper explores these ideas and why they are effective treatments. It also discusses the cold shoulder many suffering …show more content…
Because some of us eat fast food and others are inhabitants at the local Whole Foods, it is hard to pinpoint what the Standard American Diet truly is. Many researchers and authors have complied a definition to help other researchers and authors to reference the difference between what the average American citizen eats and the plant-based diets that are slowly reaching the public. Characteristics of the Standard American Diet (SAD) are high levels of refined grains, processed foods like candies and pizza, meat, and high fat cheeses and dairy. Though some of us may eat healthier than that, we still consume these products at a much higher rate than recommended or deemed necessary. But this has become our reality. And what problems have risen from the ashes of dead animals and over processed …show more content…
We consume more fat than allotted daily in one hamburger from a fast food joint. Obesity causes diseases and problems that the population is paying for in health bills. What has caused our obesity rates to rise? May the climbing rates dairy and meat consumption have to do with it? Or maybe it’s the soaring levels of fat in foods. Preventing obesity seems easy. We simply eat a clean, healthy diet free from saturated fats and dietary cholesterol. But for some reason, this does not seem to work. In elementary schools and even colleges, we push healthy living and eating but over 18 percent of the American population is obese. Changing from the Standard American Diet to a low fat, vegan diet can remedy obesity. The percentage of obesity in vegans is a low 2 percent and they weight about 10-20 pounds lighter than non-vegetarians (Robbins 58). The answer to this top killer is simpler than many think. How many vegans do you know that are overweight and suffering from illnesses related to their weight? Probably next to none. Changing from a Standard American Diet to a plant-based diet can quite quickly allow overweight individuals to shed unnecessary

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