Self-Evaluation of Naturopathy Persuasive Speech

In today's blog, I will be evaluating my persuasive speech on naturopathy. You can view my speech by clicking on the title. I feel that I did a good job for the most part, but there is definitely room for improvement.

My introduction was effective in that it set up a hook that was effecting in relating with most of the audience. Many of us reach for drugs to alleviate our pains. After the hook, I introduced my topic and proposed that naturopathy is a valid, safe, and effective substitute to the Western Medicine.

I followed the stacked method to provide arguments and counterarguments. I chose this method for my speech as the arguments and counterarguments don't match up perfectly, and I thought it worked well. By providing all the arguments at the same time, I was also able to introduce specific examples of naturopathy, and therefore provide essential background information to the audience. I also rebutted the counterarguments to my topic very well by giving evidence and emotional appeals.

I could have improved in many aspects. By referring to a note card throughout my presentation, I wasn't able to have a lot of eye contact with the audience. I also noticed that when I was changing slides on the power point, I tended to say filler words or make sounds. I feel that I can eliminate these problems in the future by practicing more! Nevertheless, it was a fun experience to research and try to persuade an audience to my viewpoint on medicine.

Response to J.R.Holle's Post: Arizona's New Immigration Law

J.R.Holle's blog was about the new immigration law in Arizona. She gave clear and concise summary of two articles from reputable sources which argued against the passing of the law. After providing such clear evidence, she states that "it is important for America to become stricter with illegal immigrants." I agree with her position in that the process of become a U.S. citizen should be made easier so that illegal immigration is greatly reduced.

Her first article stated that the new law would just increases the amount of obstacles the immigrants would have to over come before they arrived to America. It would not stop the illegal immigration activities. The other article states: “Arizona's law violates due-process rights by allowing suspected illegal immigrants to be detained before they're convicted." It is evident that both articles argue against the passing of this law.

Illegal immigration presents problems for both the immigrants and the inhabitants of America. The immigrants have to go through long duration of hardships to try to pass the border. Once they get past, they are still not safe. They need to be in hiding; therefore, they cannot have insurance, find good work, or register for any form of help from the government. As a result they are in a very risky position. It can also affect the Americans in that money could be spent on a better cause instead of regulating laws such as these that won't work anyways. In conclusion, I agree with J.R.Holle's position that the immigration process should be easier in order to reduce the number of illegal immigrants.

Organic Food: Is it Worth the Price?

Organic food is a controversial topic affecting all of us today. There are countless claims that advocate for the benefits of organic food, but there are also numerous arguments against it. For this blog I reviewed two opposing articles on the topic of organic food.
The first article, Organic food: worth the price?, advocates for the use of organic food. It says "If you eat food, you eat pesticides." It states that the increased use of organic food is good news for the plants, animals, and the soil which have been constantly abused by the use of pesticides. There is a question of pesticides in food items and their result on human health. The relation between them is not clear, but it is evident that if you are exposed to high amount of pesticides, many health conditions such as cancers, neurological degenerative diseases, and birth defects will arise. Consumers are becoming more aware of the effect of pesticides on health and the ecosystem; therefore, steps are being taken to make organic food the primary form of food intake.
The second article, Organic Food Offers Little More Than Peace of Mind, Critics Say, states that the only pro of organic food is that it offers peace to the consumers. They are satisfied by knowing that they are not poisoning themselves or the ecosystem. The writer says that there is no evidence proving that non organic food is linked to diseases. They also state that USDA regulates how usual crops are grown but organic food is not regulated; therefore, there are more chances for diseases when consuming organic food. They claim that spending increased amount of money for something of equal value makes no sense.
I believe that both articles supported their arguments very well with numbers, facts, and quotes, but I was more convinced with the first article, Organic food: worth the price?. I believe that pesticides cause negative reactions in our bodies; therefore, their use should be minimized. Think about it, pesticides are used to kill tiny organisms so why won't they kill the cells in our bodies. Even though there aren't many studies showing the connection between pesticides and diseases, it is common sense to assume their negative impact on the human body. Also use of organic food will lead to a healthier ecosystem as pesticides will no longer pollute soil and water. As the number of people using organic food increases, the prices will definitely decrease. Nonetheless, human health and ecosystem take priority over money.

Response 3 to Lebron James is "Lovin' It"

The author applauds Lebron James new endorsement with McDonalds. He is at the position he is today due to the continuous amount of help he received when he was young. As a result, now he is giving back to the community by giving back. The author mentions that it is apparent that Lebron James is doing it because he cares and not for the money involved with it. He receives internal satisfaction by being a part of this endorsement deal as both McDonalds and him share a passion for giving back to the community. The author's sincere support for James Lebron's endorsement is quite clear and vivid in her post.

I applaud James Lebron in his willingness to help the community, but I also feel that it is bad for him to get his name associated with McDonalds. And I firmly beleive that McDonalds will never have a completely healthy menu. There are always going to be those greasy heart-attack causers on the menu. It is kind of ironic that they have such unhealthy menu and they also have Ronald McDonald Houses around hospitals? The fast food chain is supporting two different extremities. I feel that James Lebron should work with some other organization to give back to the community.

Reggie Bush for Got Milk?

Reggie Bush is the new endorser for Got Milk? Who wouldn't want to drink milk after seeing this New Orleans running back drinking it? He is a great athlete and he looks good drinking it! Reggie bush says explains that “You want to be as lean as possible, but still strong.” Of course who wouldn't believe his claim after seeing his advertisement? Bush flaunts his lean and defined body in his commercial to promote milk! He is pretty convincing that milk needs to be a part of a healthy diet. I feel that the endorser is a very good choice for Got Milk? as he is an athlete who is part of the NFL. He is a healthy individual who takes care of his body in order to be a good football player. As many in the US have grown up with football, they can probably relate to Reggie Bush well.

As this is a fairly new endorsement, I predict that this campaign will be pretty successful as Reggie Bush is convincing in making milk an essential part of everyone's diet. He is already a popular figure due to his relationship with Kim Kardashian. As I am not sure about his football skills, I checked him out on the web, and it seems that he isn't that great of a player. There is an article that asks "Will Milk Help Reggie Bush Win the Super Bowl?" Though this ad may not get great amount of attention due to his football skills as he seems to be an average, it will certainly get attention from a great number of audiences due to his good looks and the ongoing relationship with Kim Kardashian.

Date Cake Demonstration Speech

I chose to do my demonstration speech on how to make a date cake as I have been making this cake for a long time. If you want to view my speech you can click on the title of this blog. As I go back and watch the video of my speech, many strengths and weaknesses are evident. First of all I think my introduction was good because it related to everyone in the class. Many of us are in our first year of college, and it is still pretty hard to get adjusted to studying everyday; therefore, I thought my introduction relating all of us and how we can reduce stress through baking was a strong point of my speech. I also that the organization of my speech was a plus point. After introducing my topic, I went into a little history about dates and how I started baking it. Then I listed the needed ingredients and materials. After doing so, I went through the steps of how to make a date cake. This was the most logical organization of the speech.

The physical part of the presentation contained many strengths and flaws. I am quite enthusiastic about the topic of how to bake a cake, but when I go back and watch the video it seems that I am merely listing off things from memory. I will need to improve myself on how to be more engaged in my own topic. The volume and body language of my presentation were a strength. I could hear myself perfectly fine when I was watching the video, and I did not make random body movements or hand gestures.

I feel that the audience was not engaged in my speech as I was not demonstrating the topic in real life. I was just listing the steps one by one. Due to my residence being off campus, I could not bring many items to the classroom, but that would have been a great way to keep the audience engaged. My visual aid was the powerpoint and the end product: date cake. I think I could have increased the effectiveness of my speech by seeming more enthusiastic and engaging the audience somehow.

I think I would still choose to do the same topic again if I was given the chance because I really know about this topic. There is a lot I can do to improve my speech. I could increase the amount of visual aid, audience participation and my enthusiasm. Otherwise, I would still keep my introduction and organization of steps.

Response to Casey KK's Real vs. Fake food

Casey stated that he grew up eating organic food, but due to limited access to organic food and money he has been substituting real food with fake ones. One of the foods that he substituted was yogurt. He used to get natural heterogeneous yogurt from an organic farm, but now as a college student he has been trying fake yogurts such as Yoplait and Go-gurts. Casey feels that these yogurts taste "un-natural" to him. Also these yogurts have harmful additives. Now he has found Sugar River yogurt, which comes quite close in nutritional values to real yogurt, and it also tastes natural. As I viewed the link provided by Casey, I discovered that it was true that these yogurts are made simply with a few natural ingredients.

I completely understand what Casey is going through as I have experienced the same thing. When I was little I used to get naturally made yogurt without any additives. The taste was so pure and distinct. The processed yogurt that most of us buy in the grocery stores taste "fake." They don't have a unique flavor that real food usually have. This makes perfect sense because they add so many preservatives, artificial flavors and colors. I will try the Sugar River Farms product as Casey was very convincing in showing how it is made naturally without much additives.

Post 3: "Real" food vs. "fake" food

JAM! It is sweet, and you can spread it on almost any bland food item to make it taste delicious! Jam can be eaten with bread, crackers, cake, and many many more. In the old days, my mom, my sister, and I would gather in the kitchen to make tomato jam! Considerable amount of tomatoes were boiled first then peeled and blended well. After that the blended tomato mix and sugar and other essentials were added in a pot and stirred for about an hour or more. The end product was a delicious, mouth-watering, appetite-inducing, sweet tomato jam! It seems unbelievable that tomatoes can be made into a jam right? But believe me it has such a distinct flavor that you won't be able to stop eating. The taste of this tomato jam still lingers with me even though I haven't had it in about nine years.

As everybody in my family became busy with their own work, we stopped making this jam as it was pretty time consuming and expensive due to the quality and amount of tomatoes needed. As a result, we switched to substituting this jam with Smuckers strawberry and grape jam. At first the taste was a little refreshing as it was something new, but as I had more and more all I could taste was sweetness. There was no taste of real strawberries or grapes. It tasted so artificial! One should be able to tell what their food is made of when they are eating it! If you look at the back of many jam bottles, there are way more ingredients than just the fruit and sugar. The high fructose corn syrup and artificial color additive can be quite harmful.

It is quite evident that many of the processed jams bought in grocery stores have little or no nutrients as the real substance. This is caused by the extensive alteration that they go through by addition of unnecessary chemicals and such to increase sweetness and reduce cost for the producers. Though this is the case, I am quite sure that I will not return to making tomato jam or any other jam for that matter. You may ask "Why?" My answer would be that making such jams are way more expensive and time consuming than dropping by a grocery store to pick of a bottle of jam.

Response to Lilikazoo's Post # 1

As I was reading Liliana's response to Michael Pollan's book, In Defense of Food, I found myself nodding my head without realizing it. Liliana first begins by summarizing the first portion of the book, which basically says that the "Age of Nutritionism" has done more harm to us than good. She repeatedly emphasizes the point that Americans need to start being conscious of WHAT they are putting in their body instead of counting calories. Liliana also sites Goodhealth.com in which Drex Earl says that people do not find real food appetizing anymore. We are in an age where we try to get the max amount of nutrients from a bar that has it all, like a Luna Bar to SoyJoy or other products that are advertised to be so good for your health.

What happened to all those times when families spent valuable time with each other to cook and share food loved for its taste or preserved from long traditions? Why are we so intent on believing the words of scientists instead of the centuries old traditions that have been passed down to us from our elders? Liliana cleverly ends her post by referring back to Michael Pollan's words which say that animals have not been able to adapt to the Western diet. Shouldn't this tell us something?

Liliana did a great job in defending Michael Pollans' words clearly and convincingly but also very concisely and to the point. I enjoyed reading her post. I completely agree with Liliana in that we need to start focusing on what really goes into our bodies instead of worrying over the amount of food we are consuming. Let's just follow our ancestors and their traditions.

Post 2: Prepare a Meal

Last Sunday, I prepared noodles with vegetables and soy sauce for my whole family. First, I wrote down all the vegetables and spices I wanted to use to prepare this meal: carrots, cabbage, broccoli, mushrooms, green chile, potatoes, snow peas, radishes, onions, garlic, ginger, black pepper, salt, oil, and soy sauce. Then I searched the cabinets and my refrigerator for all the ingredients and found that I was missing some vegetables I wanted to use, like radishes, snow peas and broccoli; therefore I took a trip to the nearby Woodman's and bought all that I needed and some unnecessary items.
Once I arrived home, I started cutting the vegetables into long and thin pieces after washing them well, and I realized that it takes a really long time to nicely cut vegetables. My mom always helped me cut when I made noodles in the past, but as I wanted to do it all by myself it took me a considerable amount of time to finish cutting everything (about thirty minutes). While I was in the process of cutting the vegetables I had to get the noodles ready. I used wheat linguine pasta and added it to salted boiled water, and drained it after it was cooked. Once I was done cutting the vegetables, I put a big pan on the stove with about three tablespoons of oil in it. Once the oil made a cracking sound, I added the onions, garlic and ginger. Once the onions turned a golden color, I added in the green chile and potatoes. A while later I added the carrots and radishes. I let the pan sit, stirring often, until the vegetables looked partly cooked. Then I added in the cabbages and green peas. Afterwards I added in the soy sauce and the salt to taste. All there was left to do was to mix the noodles and the vegetables.
Once I finished doing everything I was famished! Once everyone was served, I started eating and was pleasantly surprised and happy because of the pleasant taste. It is quite rewarding to know that you made the whole thing by yourself and the end result is pretty satisfactory. After filling myself with noodles, I realized there was still cleaning to do. I used homework as an excuse to get out of cleaning and it worked. I could not clean as the whole cooking process was exhausting.
If I was asked to describe my feelings afterwards, I would say that I felt pretty great as the experience is rewarding and it really lets you see the effort one puts in cooking for others.
Michael Pollan says in his book, In Defense of Food, "Like sex, the need to eat links us to the animals, and historically a great deal of Protestant energy has gone into helping us keep all such animal appetites under strict control." There are claims that eating is more than an animal instinct as Pollan says. But if you ask yourself why you eat, the answer is simple: because you are hungry or just plainly want to eat food; there is nothing more to it. Pollan also says that people have developed the idea that healthy food (food that is good for you) does not taste good. This is what lead to "a flood of damaging innovations...such as low-fat processed food." After I had prepared my meal, I felt satisfied because of the taste and also because I was satisfied with such a "healthy" meal with lots of vegetables. I am totally under the spell of nutritionism even without realizing it. I purposely chose this meal because it seemed healthy with all these vitamins and other things that were going to help me live longer.
I found an article called called Instinctive Eating in Gaia Yoga. This article says that if one follows their instinct in choosing what to eat, they will be well off as our bodies are so complex in that they start making a certain product taste bad after you have had a certain amount of it. "Essentially, instinctive eating yields tremendous clarity, liberation, and the security that you’re eating the best foods for you – and only in the quantities that you need – as well as generating profound, long-term health benefits. And it all happens through following your pleasure!" This sounds so great and believable as all of us know that even though chocolate tastes extremely delicious, after two bars you kind of feel sick.

Post 1: Response to In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan

"Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plant," begins In Defense of Food written by Michael Pollan. The introduction of the book is captivating as it tries to show the readers the reality of food items today--they're not really food anymore. Nowadays majority of the food items are classified by the nutrients that make them up. What do we always hear? This item has high protein, less carbs, less fat, increased fiber and Omega-3s. Pollan continually warns his readers to be aware of processed food that scream out promises such as these. 

Pollan picks apart nutritionism, saying that the -ism in the word says that nutritionism is a bunch of unproven hypothesis put together. Therefore why are we so hung on every word that the scientific researchers publish? It is quite evident that many of us have made the conclusion that all things need to be proven by scientific research in order for us to believe its good or bad attributes. Therefore we listen to the nutritionists and the industrialists who make imitations from nonfood items and put it on the shelves of the store. We are so convinced that we are doing the right thing for our body. For example, lets take margarine. This product has gone through a lot of opposition before it was finally able to occupy space on the shelves of the grocery stores. Everyone knows that margarine is better than butter because it has less things that are going to kill you sooner as it has fewer calories, trans fats, cholesterol etc as HealthCastle.com says! Of course! If America is so much better due to its increased knowledge in the are of nutrition, why are its citizens so unhealthy?

America and the other developed countries with their increased knowledge in the area of nutrition seem to be worse off in their health in comparison to developing and undeveloped countries. Why is that so? Well first of all it is evident that those of who have been hearing about nutrition have developed a phobia for unhealthiness as Pollan states. Then shouldn't we be healthier than those that don't really know these amazing facts? That's where the mistake of classifying food as nutrients comes into play. Those in the developing/undeveloped countries still follow their culture and tradition when it comes to food. These food are designed through numerous amount of years to provide the best for the eater. NationMaster.com shows the rates the obesity rate of countries. It is quite evident that the amount of Western diet a country consumes is proportional to its obesity. Pollan tell us that as soon as the Western diet is introduced in a country, the Western diseases start to appear out of nowhere. Now shouldn't that give us the clue that we are doing something extremely wrong? We need to go back to the days when we followed the eating habits of our ancestors and eat things made from scratch and not in laboratories. 

After reading the excellent first portion of Pollan, I was completely blown away. Personally I mostly eat things made from scratch (by my mother) that follow my tradition and culture. But of course I also eat processed food that claim they are healthy because why wouldn't I want more of that Omega-3 or Protein? I want to live a healthy life. And the Luna bars, cereal bars, and yogurt that scream out a easy  breakfast plus a healthy meal make life so much easier. But reading Pollan has now made me feel kind of foolish as he talks about how nutristionism evolved because of political issues from the government and big powerful firms that opposed research against their products. I also feel that it is going to take awhile for Pollan's suggestions to be put into use as so much of us are dependent on the fast processed meals that we can pop in the microwaves.