Student Projects From Other CHC Courses

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https://hdl.handle.net/1794/4018

This collection contains selected Clark Honors College student papers and projects. Submissions to this collection require prior approval from the course teacher and agreement from the author(s). The teacher and author(s) must contact the Scholars' Bank Administrator before an item can be submitted.

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Browsing Student Projects From Other CHC Courses by Subject "essay"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    The Flaws of the USDA Food Pyramid (1992) and Its Impact on Protein Consumption: A Critical Analysis
    (2023-02-05) Deivanayagam, Nithi
    The USA introduced the Food Pyramid in 1992 with the intention of offering nutritional advice on how to make healthy dietary choices. This pyramid had different food groups placed in sections: the largest represented the grain group, followed by the fruit and vegetable group, the dairy group, and the smallest represented the protein group. The pyramid's design was meant to suggest that people should consume more food from its base and fewer meals and liquids from its top1. During the first half of the twentieth century, the government aimed to provide guidelines to help people make more informed decisions about their diets and ensure they were consuming a balanced diet that met their nutritional needs. The government provided information on the recommended daily intake of different nutrients, like protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Despite its good intentions, the USDA Food Pyramid (1992) was flawed in several ways, including an emphasis on high carbohydrate consumption and its inadequate representation of protein, which resulted in a shift in the public’s dietary habits, leading to negative health outcomes.
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    Meat and Diary Dominance: How Protein Became Synonymous and How Vegetarians Challenged This Narrative
    (2023-02-05) Deivanayagam, Nithi
    As scientists started to investigate how much protein is required to support body growth, people began to stress about their protein consumption around the beginning of the twentieth century. Meat and dairy products were seen as the best sources of protein as they got emphasized more and more as a crucial nutrient to include in a diet. Vegetarians questioned the reliance on animal-based protein sources by stressing the importance of a plant-based diet, which has the potential to provide all the essential nutrients along with protein to be healthy. They pushed back against the idea by raising awareness of the negative health consequences of overconsuming protein and following diets with animal-based products as the source of protein. Since meat and dairy products were available sources of protein at the time, as scientists continued to stress its importance in the diet, protein came to be synonymous with these foods. As excessive consumption of protein has been associated with health issues, vegetarians have fought back against this narrative by promoting plant-based diets as a better alternative.
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    Unpunished Crimes in Ancient Greek Drama in Euripides' Medea
    (2022-05-28) Deivanayagam, Nithi
    The term “crime” covers a broad spectrum of illegal behavior, like murder, doing drugs, theft, etc. In a typical manner speaking, when someone commits a crime, they face the people of the law and are charged for the crime. In the Greek drama play Medea, Medea wants to get revenge on Jason because he decided to leave her and marry the princess to give their children better opportunities in life. Medea does not care about Jason’s reasons, but she wants to hurt him as much as he had hurt her, and she decided the best way is to hurt things he cares about: his lineage. As part of her vengeance scheme, she decides to kill everybody who may aid Jason in improving his bloodline, even if they do not know that they are helping. Even though Medea committed a large crime by murdering four people, she escapes without consequences, since she has personal relations with the gods, and she made Aegeus take an oath promising her protection.
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    The Untouchable Macronutrient: Exploring The Unwavering Reputation of Protein
    (2023-03-20) Deivanayagam, Nithi
    A healthy well-balanced diet should include macronutrients like protein, fats, and carbs since it gives the body the fuel and nutrients it needs to function. Carbs are known to be the primary source of energy as it supplies the body with glucose, which provides energy for the body’s function and physical activities.1 Healthy carbs are found in foods like whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables. Fats are considered to be the secondary source of energy as it is supplying energy that can use immediately or “stored for later when the energy from carbs is depleted.”2 Healthy fats can be found in foods like nuts, seeds, and oils, which are stored in the body to provide insulation, protect organs, regulate cholesterol levels, and carry fat-soluble vitamins.2 Protein has many different functions in the body and can be obtained from various sources. Over the last few decades, especially in the 1970s and 1990s, these macronutrients have been subject to various forms of vilification, where one or more components got labeled as “bad” or “unhealthy.” Due to the defemination of certain macronutrients, like fats and carbs, there has been a rise in popular diets that promote restricting or avoiding a particular macronutrient, like low-fat and low-carb diets. Carbs have been vilified due to weight gain and obesity, and fats have been condemned because of their negative impacts on health. Protein has not been vilified like the other macronutrients due to its ability to increase satiety, promote weight loss, and build muscle mass, and the lack of evidence linking protein to negative health outcomes.