Mock Final Exam: Diet and Health (3/12)

With each passing day on the calendar, the minions of Burger King, McDonalds, and Carl’s Jr. build up their legions of greasy, heart-attack inducing foods. One by one, fast foods enthrall their consumers, building up within them fortresses of saturated fat, anchoring their hosts to stationary positions. In order to defend myself from the opposition, I turn to my research on my topic of “the correlation between a balanced diet and health” to read intelligence reports on the enemy.

One article that I found was a study of the correlation between trans fatty acids in Austrian foods and cardiovascular disease. The results of the study were that, “an intake of more than 5 [grams [of Trans Fatty Acid] in a portion… has been shown to significantly increase the risk for cardiovascular disease” (Food Chemistry). This is a scary thought. Five grams, although a very insignificant amount numerically, are able to bring one close to the end of his life. Also, in the study, they discuss that foods with high amounts of trans fatty acid include fast foods as well as instant soups and bread spreads. One thing that I can pull from this is that, although I hardly eat any of the aforementioned items, these foods need to be cut down in diets in order to stay healthy. Only very small amounts of each item should be accepted or else negative effects on the body may ensue. With this study being conducted in Austria, another thing that can be perceived is that this is not just a problem localized in the popular United States, but a problem that threatens the whole world. I came across another article, which was the study of cardiovascular disease in cultures in Mexico. The researchers observed that society and culture influence eating habits, and overeating can contribute to obesity and a number of other physical problems. This reflects the idea that obesity and disease are growing at a fast rate, and if we do nothing about it, it just might consume us all. This was observed in my catalog search as well. For my Newspaper and World Wide Web search, I found items that would help maintain a diet. According to the U.S. Department of Human Health Services, a good diet is a balanced one. The key is to have a little bit of everything, not limit to only a couple types of foods. With this data, I can conclude that I can eat anything that I want, as long as I keep control over what I eat. According to Esa Davis, she stated in her newspaper article that it would be dangerous to diet just to be thin. As her title explicitly shows, the goal is to be healthy, not thin. With this research, I am able to ward off the evils of gluttonous living.

As for beginning this search, I did what anyone would do: I started with what was on top of the list to research. Like a smooth and gentle summer breeze, I tapped the keys into the search bar. Upon hitting enter, the kilobytes wooshed through the Ethernet cable and stopped cold before the wall of the LCD screen. The first database that I went to was Academic Search Premier (ASP). To be honest, I clicked on it on instinct. For searching for any type of article, regardless of discipline, it is my first choice. However, the next part was difficult. After gathering my results from the reliable—well, to me anyway—ASP, I clicked to the Science Direct (SD) database. To my dismay, this database contained the article that I found using ASP. I think that it is reasonable to conclude that although ASP is able to gather articles outside of its own domain of articles, it can stifle searches if the objective is to obtain a variety of articles from a variety of databases. Comparing ASP to other databases is like comparing a “super-knowledgeable” worker and a worker specialized for a field. ASP may be helpful for obtaining some results, but using databases specified to a field will return desired results. Depending on search terms and topics, that is. Then, I merrily made my way through the catalog, delightfully skipped through the call numbers of the catalog, and wearily wandered through the world wide web. While scrolling through the results returned by Google, I pondered on the significant difference between searching through Internet search engines and database search engines. I can attribute my tendency to “google” for information to my lack of exposure to databases. They are truly something very valuable. Basically, they hold a lot of articles with information that I’ve never heard of before. And, that’s a lot. Information in databases cannot be left unread. It shouldn't.

Of course, with any generic search term, the search engine is bound to return as many results as it can. In order to evaluate my sources, I scanned the titles of the articles on the screen. Clicking randomly on links would not get me any closer to my goal of finishing this assignment, so I clicked on articles with titles pertinent to my topic and read the abstracts for further clarification. I think that the abstracts are a vital tool not only for description purposes, but also the managing of time. However, because my search in ASP turned up too many results the first time when I searched for "diet," I changed it up. Instantly after that click into "diet AND health," my search was refined and the amount of results was trimmed down to a manageable number.

Among the articles that I chose were the correlation between diet and disease, fatty foods and cardiovascular problems, how to maintain a diet, and why a diet should be maintained. Through this information, the dangers of bad dieting was reflected by disorders and diseases of the human body. The search for these articles was no easy task. On the paper, when the search was designated as “Hour 1,” I found that, thirty minutes after the first hour of class, it was no joke. The bibliographic information is as follows.

Catalog Search -
The nutrition transition : diet and disease in the developing world /
Editors, Benjamin Caballero and Barry M. Popkin,
Amsterdam; Boston: Academic Press, c2002
CALL NUMBER: RA645.N87 N8795 2002

Newspaper Search –
Esa M Davis. "Goal of weight loss is being healthy, not thin. " Call & Post [Cleveland, Ohio] 1 Aug. 2007,C.2. ProQuest Newsstand. ProQuest. California State University, East Bay, Library, CA. 7 Mar. 2008

Academic Search Premier Database -
Comprehensive studies on the trans fatty acid content of Austrian foods: Convenience products, fast food and fats.
By: Wagner, Karl-Heinz; Plasser, Elisabeth; Proell, Christiana; Kanzler, Sonja. Food Chemistry, Jun2008, Vol. 108 Issue 3, p1054-1060, 7p; DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.11.038; (AN 29378753)

Disciplinary Database Search (Science Direct) -
Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Acculturation in Yaquis and Tepehuanos Indians from Mexico. Archives of Medical Research, Volume 39, Issue 3, Pages 352-357 M. RODRIGUEZMORANb

World Wide Web –
Title – A Healthy Diet
Author – The National Women’s Health Information Center
Department – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health
Date accessed – March 7, 2008
Last Update of Article – January 2005
http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/diet.htm#1

As seconds pass on the hour clock, the fast food chains and manufacturers produce more toppings on pizza, filling in burgers, and thick oils to drench everything in. As their weapons sit in research development, my defense must go through renovations as well. My thoughts and research must be up to par in order to combat the hordes of French fries and Fish filets. The best way to initiate change is to ask a few questions. Two complex research questions about my subject come to mind:

“What are items on nutrition labels that are dangerous in large amounts and I should cut down on?”
“Is there such a thing as a ‘healthy’ fast food?”
As this arms race between fast foods and healthy living continues, I must build up my defenses before the greasy, grimy, and gluttonous offensive is upon me. But, where should I go to answer these questions? Two databases where I can find answers to my questions are:

The Web of Science
And,
AGRICOLA