Vitamin/mineral supplements: of questionable benefit for the general population

I decided to pick an article that related to vitamin/mineral supplements for this week’s blog.  Therefore I read the article Vitamin/mineral supplements: of questionable benefit for the general population written by Donald B McCormick.  This article basically asked the question: do we as people truly need all these vitamin and mineral supplements that are out in the world today?  The article also mentioned that a lot of vitamins/minerals that we need during the course of the day come from much of the food we eat.  Even processed foods now have special vitamins/minerals that allow for ourselves and our bodies to have a successful day even though we would not be eating healthy.  The article basically went along the lines that most people in fact do not need to take vitamin/mineral supplements because of the amount of them that are present in our foods and other things.  The only people that truly need to take those supplements are people that may be lacking a certain vitamin or mineral because of a problem with their bodies or have a certain disease that requires more of a certain vitamin or mineral.  Lastly the article basically mentioned that buying vitamins/minerals and taking them every day is unnecessary for us unless we are lacking something.

            Then the article discussed actually how much money has been spent on such supplements such as vitamins and minerals that people buy and also the cost to make them.  The amount of money that people spend and manufacturers spend to buy and produce these supplements is amazing in the 21-25 billion dollars per year range which was absolutely surprising to me.  I figured that the sum of people buying and the manufacturing costs would be in the millions, but not the billions.  This tells me that obviously there is quite a demand for mineral and vitamin supplements and that people are definitely going out and buying these products at a very good rate.

            As the article went on it then focused on the reason for such of a demand of these products by many consumers, and the detailed answer was simple to the author.  The author stated that many companies of products that make vitamin and mineral supplements advertise or label their products as being “natural” or have phrases like “stay young” meaning that there product will keep you looking young and fresh if a person takes there supplement.  To me this is obviously smart advertising for the product because most people seem to be looking for products that constantly mention that they are “natural” or they keep a person looking younger than their age.  People definitely need to look at labels better or ask a professional about what the product really is instead of just believing an ad or what is said on a label of a product. 

            Another factor that the article mentioned is a top reason for people believing that they need vitamin and mineral supplements is because of what is stated by a person promoting the product either on the label or from advertisement.  The author mentioned that too many people believe instantly in what they are told, especially from a so-called expert for the product.  My opinion of this is that people just need to really check with someone who honestly knows the answers to these supplements and see if what they are being told is true.  I cannot even imagine how much money people blow every year from buying products that they believe will help them with their health because of advertisement and the belief from the so-called experts that say things on their products label.

            Lastly the article went over about how a lot of vitamin and mineral products do not give people that much benefit if at all, unless a person truly needs them because of an illness or a disease that they have.  Then the article briefly mentioned that taking vitamins and minerals could even cause harm to a person if taking them excessively. 

            I thought this article was very good.  I never honestly realized that taking vitamins and minerals are basically unnecessary unless someone has a problem and could even be harmful to a person if taken excessively.  I liked that the author was very unbiased in my opinion.  I thought he did a good job stating the facts, but also telling us the good and the bad.  I also never realized that these products actually have so called experts that really are not experts or doctors that try and get people to buy the product.  That to me is pretty sad, but a definite reality in our society.  I will definitely pay more attention to products like these if I’m ever looking to buy some and seek out a person that will give me an honest answer.

http://0web.ebscohost.com.millennium.matc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=25&sid=eae20e99-35ae-46de-930f-20ee3c1e373c%40sessionmgr15

Joe Stevens    

The facts behind fad diets

I decided to read the article The facts behind fad diets written by Kerry Neville.  The article focused on the facts behind fad diets and what consumers needed to pay attention to when considering a diet, and also explaining that the best way to lose weight.  The article also mentioned that the best way still to lose weight is by being physical active and in good health.  The article started off explaining that most popular diets are known as fad diets because everyone seems to be doing them at a certain time.  Common fad diets that the article went over were the Atkins diet and the Zone diet.  These diets were common to the average person for a while in our society because the so-called effects from being on the diet were instance weight loss with little effort.

            The article then went into the reality of fad diets and weight loss and what should really be expected for living a healthy lifestyle.  The author explained that there are no foods and no magical answers to weight loss and no foods that anyone can never eat; the real key to success is watching how much you eat, meaning watching calories you eat to try and match what you can burn in a day with a person’s physical activity level.

            Then the author explained that instead on just jumping on any fad diet that the best thing for people to do is to focus on specific tips to help lose weight that are healthy and that are natural.  The first tip that the author explained was to set realistic goals.  The article mentioned that setting realistic goals for weight loss while trying to live a healthy life are easy.  Many should begin by making goals like eating fewer portions during a typical meal or eating fruit instead of junk food.  The author also mentioned that making little changes does in fact go a long way and should lead to even better changes.

            Then the article went into another tip which was sticking to proper portions when eating meals throughout the day.  The article explained that way too many people often eat large portions of food that make them gain excessive weight.  People that allow for smaller portions do not gain as much weight and are able to control their eating habits.  The author also mentioned that people can eat anything they want; they just have to watch how much they eat of certain products if the products they are eating are unhealthy.

            Breakfast was also a big part of this article because of the many facts that it presented about how important breakfast is for a healthy lifestyle and for losing weight that fad diets cannot do.  Research has shown in the article that when trying to lose weight, eating breakfast actually helps a person lose weight by eating it every morning.  It’s when a person skips breakfast that weight is actually gained from eating larger amounts at other meal times.

            Probably the most important tip of all in this article was to track your progress, meaning monitoring the calories that a person eats during the course of the day.  The goal of this process is to track the amount of calories so that a person is able to keep them in check and in a target range in order to effectively lose weight.  This also helps in the long run because tracking calorie intake will allow a person to keep weight off and stay healthier.

            Finally the last tips that the author went over to help a person lose weight in a healthy style instead of going on fad diets were to slow down when eating because of the opportunity for our brain and body to process everything and tell us that we’ve had enough.  This allows for people to eat reasonably and to eat the right amount of foods and portions.  Lastly the article talked about eating more watery foods and for people to balance food and physical activity.

            As for my opinion of the article I thought that the article had a great view on how to lose weight effectively and healthier instead of jumping on a fad diet.  I thought that the article gave great details on how to lose the weight and the steps that a person would need to take in order to do so.  One thing that I did not like about the article was that it did not really go into great detail about fad diets.  The article talked somewhat of them, but I had hoped that the author would have provided a little more information on them instead of just saying that most are bad because they almost guarantee weight loss immediately.  But overall I thought I gained more knowledge on fad diets and what they are and also on how to keep weight off and live a healthier life.

http://0web.ebscohost.com.millennium.matc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=7&sid=fca48dd9-c496-492c-8bd9-b4386ce71333%40sessionmgr11

Joe Stevens

Organic Foods: Do Eco-Friendly Attitudes Predict Eco-Friendly Behaviors?

The article titled Organic Foods: Do Eco-Friendly Attitudes Predict Eco-Friendly Behaviors? was an interesting article that I read because it was an article that reported trends and beliefs about organic foods from a variety of different people across the world. There were also other findings of organic foods related to college students and how they viewed organic foods and if they were likely to eat these foods and be eco-friendly.  Early on in the article the authors examined the consumption of organic foods across the entire world noting that organic products have begun to be getting popular by many people.  College students are also beginning to realize that organic products are better and these products are even swaying some college students’ minds in what college they attend, by picking a college with organic foods. 

The article also goes over the federal standards for organic foods because as the reading explained people often misunderstand organic and what it really means.  Organic foods are defined as products that are grown without the use of pesticides, fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organic organisms, and radiation.  The reason that article goes in depth about its definition and if a product really is organic is because many people want to know what they’re buying and what are in their products.

As for consumer attitudes and behaviors most research has been done outside of the United States.  People that were surveyed said they had positive beliefs about organic foods and that they bought organic foods because of the health benefits that they gain from eating these products.  Although many perceptions of organic foods and products are viewed positively in many countries, there are also countries that have been surveyed and the majority of these people were against organic foods because of lack of color, and bland tasting foods.   

Later in the article the authors talked about if people who really eat organic foods are eco-friendly?  Once the article went on it became evident that just because a person eats organic foods does not make them eco-friendly, but many are.  As for high school students most believed that organic foods were healthier, tasted better, and were better for the community.  Yet their beliefs were not strong enough to urge them to act, meaning they did not eat organic foods on a consistent basis.

College students on the other hand showed a much deeper level of interest for organic foods noting that they ate organic foods for a healthy lifestyle and for the environment.  As I mentioned before many colleges and universities have begun to take action with organic foods, setting up food areas with only organic foods to appeal to many college students.

Now for the results of the survey of college students to examine whether or not these students ate organic foods and as a result of eating these foods made eco-friendly decisions. The population of the survey included students from a mid-size university in the southeastern United States involving mostly students that were enrolled in political science classes.  The instrumentation that was used was through a paper based survey that included questions asking how often they ate organic foods, or if they did at all.  Their knowledge about organic foods and also how eco-friendly they were if they ate organic foods. 

As for the results most of the students were neutral in their opinion about organic foods. (56%) But there were a good amount of students that accepted organic foods or only ate organic foods. (41%) Approximately 31% believed that organic foods tasted the same as conventional foods, whereas 15% felt organic foods tasted better, and 12% felt organic foods tasted worse.  However between 33% and 45% reported they purchased and consumed some organic foods on campus, in restaurants, or at home.  Lastly, 50% of the students said that they would support organic foods on campus and 64% reported they would buy organic foods if offered on campus. Most of the students that were for organic products led a healthy and active lifestyle and the students that were not really for organic products did not.  As for the relationship with organic products and eco-friendly behaviors, there was a similarity.  Most students that used organic products were likely to recycle, conserve energy and water, carpool, and do other eco-friendly behaviors.

My opinion of the article was surprising.  I honestly did not realize that this many college students viewed organic products as an almost necessity and how a lot of them were eco-friendly and how these two did in fact go hand in hand in most cases, but not all.  I guess because I am a college student I honestly do not really pay attention to organic products and being eco-friendly.  I guess that is why my opinion of this article and its findings were so surprising to me.  It just seems to me like most college students do not really care about these two things which I think is understandable because of our age and because we’re focused on school. I was however not surprised that in many countries organic foods are viewed well and some countries do not view organic foods well. Lastly though I found out some interesting numbers and trends when it come to organic products and being eco-friendly, and I will definitely pay more attention to these two things in the future. 

http://0-web.ebscohost.com.millennium.matc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=497a8574-cc2a-42bd-978c-2ac8e828a2e8%40sessionmgr4&vid=5&hid=7 

Joe Stevens