How We Export Alzheimer's to the World
Text analysis
This document is an article about the Alzheimer’s and American food. It demonstrates the connection between this two.
Firstly, there is an increase in the number of people who are affected by the Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, Americans love junk food : burgers, chips, sodas and a lot of fried foods. These two things are connected.
Currently there are more and more people who are malnourished, in particular Americans and they export their food all over the world, as with McDonald’s for example.
Consequences? The Alzheimer’s disease increases. For example, in Japan, the Alzheimer’s has increased from 1 percent to 7 percent in just 13 years. We can explain that by the fact that the Japanese who were used to eating fish (for example), which contains a lot of OMEGA 3 (that allows them to limit the cholesterol and the increase of Alzheimer’s disease) eat actually more and more American junk food (burgers, fries…).
It’s really necessary to be careful about what we eat exactly. We can eat more fish, vegetables and fruit to have a better nutrition. Let’s take the United States for example: this country, which eats lots of junk food, is the second highest rate of Alzheimer’s in the world. The article specifies that currently more than 5 million of Americans have the Alzheimer’s and they will be 14 million in 2050. The main problem is that it is a disease that we can’t treat; it’s irreversible.
In the second part of this document, the
subject treated is the Mind Diet. It’s a new diet based on personal initiative. The aim of this diet is to reduce the rate of death by heart diseases or neurodegenerative diseases like
Alzheimer’s.
The Mind diet is a combination of the Mediterranean diet and Dash diet (to reduce hypertension). But this diet allows to fight diseases without medicine. It’s a way to anticipate diseases. This diet is based on many products to eat: chicken, fish, wholegrain, vegetables, nuts and berries; and we must reduce the consumption of some products: red meat, cheese and fast food. And do regular exercise, controlling cholesterol and blood pressure. To finish we will quote the final sentences of the document: “The less western we eat, the less likely our health is to go south”.
Serena, Raphaël, Julien, 2TSA
Vocabulary
Alzheimer's disease: la maladie d’Alzheimer
dementia: la démence
Western diet : le régime occidental
chronic diseases.: maladies chronique
nutrients : les nutriments
processed foods: les aliments transformés
saturated fats: graisse saturée
cancers : cancer
health risks: risques pour la santé
prepared foods: nourriture préparée
fat, salt and sugar: graisse,sel et sucre
hypertension, blood pressure: hypertension
heart attacks: crise cardiaque
osteoporosis: ostéoporose
malnourishment: malnutrition
cardiovascular diseases: maladies cardiovasculaire
cholesterol : cholestérol
neurodegenerative diseases: maladies neuro-dégénérative
healthy foods: nourriture saine
naughty foods : nourriture maladroite
Mediterranean diet : le régime méditerranéen
DASH diet : le régime DASH (to fight blood pressure)
Serena, Raphaël, Julien, 2TSA
Discussion
What do you think about American food?
- it can be dangerous,
- we can eating a low-cost hot dish
- we don’t know what we eat exactly.
Are you used to eating junk food or in fast food restaurants? And why, what motivates you to eat fast food
- Occasionally, often, “all the time”
- It’s low-cost
- We like dishes, it tastes good
In your opinion, how can we make vegetables and fruit more attractive?
- vary colors,
- the presentation
- vary the flavors
- vegetables into others dishes
Do you think that some diets are responsible for neurodegenerative and heart diseases?
- Different kind of diet
- Fast food contribute at development of diseases
- People must to make careful to what they eat
Do you believe that a balanced diet could be a great medicine against Alzheimer?
- There haven’t any medicine to fight Alzheimer's
- Diet haven’t an effect on brain
TEXT ANALYSIS (Jeanne &megane)
This article presents the exportation of Alzheimer’s to the world, but principally people who eat cheeseburgers and fries. Everybody knows that, most Americans eat everyday in a fast food joint and the country is the first case of obesity.
American’s people confess their food include a side order of Alzheimer’s disease. And many people have Alzheimer’s disease because the American food is exported to the rest of the world.
A student explains in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition that other nations have adopted the Western diet popular in the USA. The rate of the people affected by Alzheimer’s disease has increased in other countries because of malnutrition.
For example, the Japanese are the first population where the increase of the consumption of the Western diet is exponential. Because we can see that one percent in 1985 is affected by dementia and seven percent in 2008.
The Mind diet is a list of food which combines elements of the Mediterranean diet end the Dash diet. It consists in protecting the brain from dementia and cognitive decline. The diet encourages us to eat more of certain foods and less of others.
A research team followed some nine hundred adults between the ages of 58 and 98. People who adhered strictly to the mind diet cut their risk of Alzheimer’s by more than 50 percent.
Finland has created an advertising campaign to fight against the fast food and more generally against the food fat, salt and sugar. This prevention plan against dementia allows people to be scared and thanks to it to reduce the rate of death from heart disease by 80 percent.
With the evolution of food and the way to eat, it’s extremely difficult to change the habits of the population.
VOCABULARY
- taste buds : papilles gustatives
- Western diet : l’alimentation occidentale
- livestock : bétail
- blood pressure : tension artérielle
DISCUSSION
- Does this disease affect you? And now, do you watch your diet?
- Are you interested in eating with the Mind diet?
- Do you prefer eating homemade food or go to a fast food restaurant?
Jeanne and Mégane, 2TSA