StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Take Your Vitamins - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The author of this study will analyze the nutrition and food consumption throughout the generations in regard to a common statement "Take Your Vitamins". Additionally, the paper discusses the problem of products labeling by the vendors and factories…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.3% of users find it useful
Take Your Vitamins
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Take Your Vitamins"

“Take Your Vitamins” “Don’t forget to take your vitamins,” is a common phrase that parents have reminded their children for generations. Yet, most people do not ever remember, more so, most Americans could not tell you why most of the different vitamins are good for us; except, of course, the old reliable vitamin C. So the situation posed in the textbook scenario faced by the hypothetical Judy us very realistic. (Manore and Thompson 189) Standing in a grocery store isle staring at all the differing foods that now offer the healthier inclusion of vitamins and minerals is not unfamiliar to us all.

These foods called “functional foods,” or more scientifically nutraceuticals, offer greater benefits than the same standard foods do not. A really important element of the “functional foods” is that most people are probably not aware is that they are not directly regulated, at this time, by the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration. This means that no one, outside the company’s manufacturing the products, are really guaranteeing the absolute safety, purity, or quality of these products.

(Manore and Thompson 189) Because the nutraceuticals are not drugs, and are not really capable of being dangerous, then here is no concern about where and to what they are added. To be perfectly honest, is not safety that is in question, but, whether, or not, they are in fact beneficial. Adding vitamins and minerals to granola bars, breakfast cereals, and dairy products is well and fine, ideally designed to encourage people to purchase those products. But is that really a cunning way to get people to “take their vitamins” or a clever way to get consumers to spend more on a product that benefits are potentially questionable at best.

Also, as is the hypothetical case of Judy, she considers buying the soda with the vitamins added figuring that it must be better for her. (Manore and Thompson 189) But just because the given product has newly added ingredients does not mean that the food overall is healthier for you. If your favorite fast food restaurant added all the needed daily necessity of all the vitamins and minerals to their tastiest and greasiest french fries, would you start eating those fries everyday because they are healthier?

Many of the foods these ingredients are added to are not necessarily healthy for you regardless of the vitamin content. Marketing them as health foods may do far more harm than good. The United States Pharmaceutical Convention is a non-profit organization founded in 1820 by eleven physicians concerned with how chaotic and disorganized the realm of drugs and other medications actually was.(“United States Pharmaceutical Convention”) They work with multiple countries to guarantee the quality of what is consumed by the public.

The USP set the standards by which all the drugs, dietary supplements, and food ingredients are manufactured and distributed. The organization is made up of 800 volunteers, including members internationally. They presently have a “farm to fork” initiative. Simply meaning that they work to be involved in the quality of ,what is consumed from where it comes from to where it goes, before it ends up in cabinets your home.(“United States Pharmaceutical Convention”) This becomes harder today, because the ingredients of foods tend to come from multiple sources in multiple locations.

Presently, manufacturers are expected to be completely honest in labeling these products so as not to mislead the public. (Manore and Thompson 189) However, that does not mean the public will not be. Although many Americans are health conscious, does not mean that they are health educated. For this reason there is an incentive to encourage the FDA to get involved in regulating and overseeing these “functional foods” but until this happens, as the text stated, the “…consumers are on their own.

” (Manore and Thompson 189) References Manore, Melinda, and Janice Thompson. Nutrition for Life. 2nd. San Francisco: Benjamin/Cummings, 2009. 189. Print. . "USP." United States Pharmaceutical Convention. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 May 2012. http://www.usp.org/about-usp

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Take Your Vitamins Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2”, n.d.)
Take Your Vitamins Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1399299-essay
(Take Your Vitamins Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words - 2)
Take Your Vitamins Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words - 2. https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1399299-essay.
“Take Your Vitamins Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words - 2”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1399299-essay.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Take Your Vitamins

Food journal analysis week 4

Calories, vitamins, and energy Total calories and vitamin levels for my daily intake was slightly higher than the Recommended Daily Amounts.... While I made sure to choose healthier items today, some of the vitamins and minerals were still... This style of eating is not only not a good practice; it can be detrimental to your health, and also can cause a downward spiral into bad eating patterns.... By integrating low-fat items, your mindset changes to add other health-promoting foods and practices....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

The Role of Vitamins to Peoples Bodies

Or we were told how important it was to make sure we got all of our vitamins and… vitamins are important to our bodies' different functions, and we should make sure to have a proper intake of all of the different vitamins. We however, have it much easier than our forefathers did when it comes to taking vitamins.... Originally the only way to btain vitamins was from eating the right balance of the right food containing exactly the right about of which vitamins you needed, a process that was difficult and not always exact....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

History of Vitamins

vitamins are organic substances that usually are separated into water-soluble (such as B vitamins and vitamin C), and fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E, K)” (Obikoya).... (Jacks) has recorded a very detailed account of the attitudes of early people about the… This paragraph briefly summarizes the early history of vitamins as narrated by (Jacks).... vitamins have a history extended over tens of hundreds of years, though the history was not fully recognized until almost recently....
5 Pages (1250 words) Term Paper

Choose a vitamin that is likely to reach toxic levels in the body from excessive supplementation

Aside from its dietary fiber contents, this dish can provide us with a long list of vitamins and minerals which are required in our daily diet.... vitamins.... your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Two case study on lipid metabolism

She was brought into the emergency room because she had a convulsion after an all-day tour with her parents.... She had no prior history of convulsions.... Her parents said she had tried some new foods, including an… Unripe Ackee-Ackee fruit contains a toxin that inactivates carnitine.... A blood test revealed hypoglycemia (36 mg/dL), a high level of fatty acids, and a very low level of ketoacids. In a normal fatty acid metabolism, carnitine is required for Specifically, carnitine acyltransferase exchanges carnitine with coenzyme A from acetyl CoA, thus forming acetylcarnitine and free coenzyme A in the process....
4 Pages (1000 words) Case Study

Treatment Approaches

Take Your Vitamins as prescribed by the doctor on time so that you may not have any deficiency of vitamins in your body.... ake your vitamins: Taking drugs and drinking causes loss of vitamins within body.... Harm… , in simpler terms, works on the principle of convincing people to take small steps towards betterment instead of leaping for big change all of a sudden. This approach does not focuses on forcing an individual to get rid of addictive behavior all of a sudden, instead, this Treatment Approaches Treatment Approaches – Harm Reduction Model Harm reduction is an approach consisting of strategies and methods that help a person to overcome or reduce some of its dangerous behaviors, such as taking drugs or over drinking of alcohol that not only leads to harm the individual and threatens community as well....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Integrated Reading & Writing

The UK citizens take vitamin supplements People tend to avoid the consumption of cold fruit drink and the consumption… The fruits are the main producers of vitamins.... People of the UK always substitute these vitamins to retain the vitamin levels in the body. The author opinion is reliable on buying the supplement other than freezing out while seeking for vitamin D traces provided Integrated Reading & Writing In your own words, explain the meaning of the following words and phrases from the text....
2 Pages (500 words) Coursework

Vitamins and Minerals Involved in Energy Metabolism

In the paper “vitamins and Minerals Involved in Energy Metabolism,” the author examines several vitamins and minerals involved in energy metabolism.... The vitamins which are involved in energy metabolism are Thiamine (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Vitamin B12, Biotin, Pyridoxine (B6), Nicotinic acid (B3).... Athletes take various vitamin supplements and sometimes in higher dosages....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us