By Mateo Pimentel
“We are what we eat,” as the old adage says. “If you eat a hamburger one day, then its atoms and molecules will end up making your cell walls and different organs and tissues,” explains Logan McCarty, a lecturer on chemistry, chemical biology, and physics at Harvard University. For humans, as for other animals, it is essential to replace regularly the atoms and molecules in the body, and the food that we ingest supplies these atoms and molecules to fuel indispensable chemical processes and generate new cells.
Food is related to cellular division for an elegant reason: cells suffer damage over time, and division continuously replaces the old and dying cells with new ones. Mitosis and meiosis, the two different division processes, cannot create something from nothing. So the body incorporates new atoms and molecules from our food into dividing cells to generate fresh ones. Such cells accrete to replace the tissues and, ultimately, complete organs. These organs, obviously, are necessary for the body’s vitality.
It is important to keep in mind that copying errors and metabolic pathways with sensory and feedback systems are inherent to the cellular growth and division process. The kinds of foods that we ingest to sustain our lives are not all equal: some are hardly food at all. In many world markets, there has been an increase in the levels of fat, salt and sugar in foods. These food elements are not in themselves problematic; however, the excessive ingestion of such things can create problems. Among other things, the world is growing obese, and the costs of health insurance and health care are rising. This is an issue, not only for markets where people have money to spend on such foodstuffs but also in emerging economies with millions of potential consumers. Furthermore, increased insurance premiums and food prices generate a lot of revenue in existing markets. Ultimately, the fatter a nation gets, the more it pays economically and health-wise.
United States of America: Heavy Costs
In the United States, the quintessential neoliberal state, there is much to dissect regarding the relationship of big food businesses and the induction of poor public health. The problem is also heavily economic. The cost of healthcare is rising faster than inflation. Healthcare is also one of the biggest catalysts for the federal deficit. It is a major impediment to improved living standards for the country’s poor. An American Journal of Preventive Medicine report on obesity predicts that more than 40 percent of Americans will become obese by 2030. This represents an increase from today’s rate of about 35 percent. Obesity and health problems related to eating might cost Americans more than $190 billion. Such problems are expected to cause increases in insurance premiums and government expenses. Some reports hold that currently the cost per individual household runs upwards of $1,700; such expenses will continue to rise as Americans grow more obese and less healthy…
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