Chemicals in Our Food

724 Words3 Pages
H A English 200 Proposal for I-Search Essay 11/6/13 We are a fast food nation. Everything is quick and convenient. We can walk into a supermarket or mini-mart and pick a bag or box off the shelf and eat until our heart’s content. Every corner has a fast food place. It’s all so easy. But what exactly are we doing to our bodies? What is in these foods that make them so convenient? Why do they have such a long shelf life? What in the world is disodium inosinate? What is TBHQ? The above questions are the topic of my I-search essay. “How do the chemicals in our food affect the body”? I am very interested in this topic because I want to live a healthy lifestyle. This includes a healthy diet. I am a vegetarian. I have recently switched to vegan. I can’t believe how good I feel. Now, whenever I eat something bagged or boxed, I feel sluggish and tired. I also get very cranky. I have a hard time controlling my emotions, and I tend to “snap” at people around me. Is that the chemicals in the food affecting my body? I believe it is. I would like to research exactly what these common chemicals are (also called “preservatives”), what source they come from, and how they affect the body. I read the labels of most packaged food. I am finding more and more ingredients that have long scientific names, which I cannot pronounce. What is that? How can the food manufacturing companies keep coming up with new ingredients? There are only so many natural foods in the world. Since I do live a fairly healthy lifestyle, I tend to know quite a bit about diet, and how the foods we eat affect us. But what I want to discover is specifically the chemicals and preservatives. What are they? How does the body respond to them? Are they toxic? Do they build up in the body, or can the body easily eliminate them? I am researching this for personal health reasons
Open Document