Michael Pollen’s quote “You are what what you eat eats” implies that the diet of the things we eat, be they plants or animals, have a significant bearing on the healthfulness or nutritional quality of the food from plants or animals that we eat in the long run. In the case of meat, it should be noted that animals such as sheep or cows from which the meat is obtained, eat grass. When a cow eats too many seeds, it is highly likely that it will fall sick, and therefore, meat obtained from such an animal may not be healthy for consumption. When food animals feed on a diet of grass, it is highly likely that they will produce much healthier fats that will have significant nutritional benefits once consumed by humans.
Essentially, Michael Pollen’s quote implies that humans should avoid or limit nutrients that increase health risks. It should also be noted that even though humans need fats and carbohydrates in their diets, not all types of fats or carbohydrates are as healthy as others (Smolin and Grosvenor 44). For instance, the fats obtained from animals that feed on grain rather than a diet of grass are likely to increase health risks once consumed by humans. It is recommended that humans’ diets should include fats that come from plants and fish oils given the numerous positive effects they have on the health of the heart (Smolin and Grosvenor 44). Today, the diet of many Americans does not meet the recommendations for healthy diets, hence the rapid increase in chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes (Smolin and Grosvenor 31). To some extent, the increase in these chronic diseases can be attributed to what humans eat eats too. The sooner cows and animals stuck to eating grass the sooner humans addressed the issue of chronic diseases such as heart disease and obesity.
Work Cited
Smolin, Lori A., and Mary B. Grosvenor. Nutrition: science and applications. Saunders college publishing, 2016. http://dlx.bok.org/genesis/757000/8df533f4b014445fd06347b543f28f5e/_as/[Lori_A._Smolin,_Mary_B._Grosvenor]_Nutrition_Sci(b-ok.org).pdf