Question on the file

NUTR 221 :NUTRITION ON THE NET ASSIGNMENT #4 DUE ON APRIL 17TH BY 5 PM

NUTRITION ON THE NET: PURPOSE

1. Evaluate nutrition information from an article or blog you would find

posted on the internet

2. Identify professional nutrition resources such as journals, website or

texts that can provide reliable evidence based nutrition information.

3. Determine validity and accuracy of nutrition information posted on

the internet through the use of professional nutrition resources.

NUTRITION ON THE NET EXAMPLE

• I will take you through the assignment step by step with an actual example

to provide more guidance in how to complete the sections A-C for this

assignment.

NUTRITION ON NET: FIRST STEP

• Think about an area of nutrition you are interested in learning more about. It can be almost anything as

long as it contains nutrition information. Note: Sometimes the term “Health” can get confused with the

term “Nutrition”. Be sure that part of the content of the article or blog has statements about nutrition.

• Example, the gut biome was discussed in class, you might want to see what articles or blogs have been

written about the gut biome. Once you find your article or blog identify the Author,Title, Date

published if available or (n.d.) if no date. Then the date retrieved and the direct URL. The following

article will be used to review the Parts A –B in the assignment.

Alison Moodie.“Signs your gut is unhealthy and why you should fix it”. March 23, 2020.

Retrieved on April 9, 2020 from https://www.bulletproof.com/gut-health/gut-health-microbiome/

STEP TWO: READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE & ANSWER QUESTIONS IN PART A

• Part A Questions 1-6 are listed on page 2 of the instruction file. Answer each question and

include an example from the article (or blog) that supports your answer. Usually 2-3

sentences per answer.

• You do not have to type out the questions, just identify the question by Number.

• Question 1 What is the purpose of the article? Is it to sell products or ideas and make

money? or is it to present factual information or to make a professional contribution? Do you

believe it? Why?

• You will list: Part A

• 1. Your Answer

PART A QUESTIONS CONT. QUESTION 1

• 1. What is the purpose of the article? Is it to sell products or ideas and make money? or

is it to present factual information or to make a professional contribution? Do you

believe it? Why?

• Initially the purpose appears to be to present factual information about gut health.

However, there is strong push to sell a variety of products. In the section titled “Gut

Health Supplements” there are links to many Bulletproof products that are sold directly

on the website including: Probiotics, Prebiotics, Collagen and Activated Charcoal. This

article is designed to create pressure to buy the products under the guise of educating

about the gut biome.

PART A QUESTIONS CONT. QUESTION 2

• What is the style of presentation? Is it educational or scientific? Are devices such as testimonials or

scare tactics used?

• Again the style appears educational and lists references to support some of the content. However it

also uses scare tactics when stating that if the gut biome is out of balance it can lead to serious

diseases “such as MS, diabetes, cancer, autism, allergies and asthma”. It lists a number of generalized

symptoms such as depression, anxiety, difficulty concentration and mentions that if you have those

symptoms you might have a “gut imbalance”. In the section under “Improve your Gut Health” it states

to quit sugar or you will have more bad bacteria, processed foods are toxic, and that fiber from grains

“cardboard cereal” is bad for you. Next you are provided with information on how to buy the

Bulletproof supplements (sold on the website) to help you with your gut health.

PART A QUESTIONS CONT. QUESTION 3

• What are the qualifications of the author of the article? (i.e. educational background,

training, credentials or are they a journalist) If they have credentials, are they appropriate

for providing nutrition information.

• At the end of the article, information about Alison Moodie states she is a health

reporter. She holds a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of

Journalism, where she majored in TV news. In her Linked In profile, she lists employment

as a senior editor of the Bulletproof website for about 18 months and now is working for

another company. The credentials are not appropriate for someone providing nutrition

information. Her writing appears to be more about using health and nutrition information

to sell products on the website.

PART A QUESTIONS CONT. QUESTION 4

• Is the factual data in the article based on appropriate research and experiences of experts in the

field of health? Are any experts interviewed or quoted in the article and what are their

qualifications?

• No experts in the field are interviewed or quoted in the article. Moodie does provide links to

peer reviewed journal articles at the end of the article. I checked out the one in regard to getting

serious diseases from an unhealthy gut biome and could find no mention of those diseases in the

article she linked to that statement. It appears she many have used those reference to make the

article appear more scientific, yet distorted the information to convince readers that they had an

unhealthy gut and needed those “helpful” supplements that she listed at the end of the article.

PART A QUESTIONS CONT. QUESTION 5

• Is there any evidence of research supporting the statements mentioned in the article/blog? Is the information

based on scientific facts or emotional appeal?

• As reported in the previous question, there appears to be connections to valid research but the conclusions

reached are based on emotional appeal rather than the facts. To prevent issues with accountability the following

was listed at the end of the article.

• “Statements made on this website have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Information

provided by this website or this company is not a substitute for direct, individual medical treatment or advice. It is

the responsibility of you and your healthcare providers to make all decisions regarding your health. Bulletproof

recommends that you consult with your healthcare providers regarding the diagnosis and treatment of any disease

or condition. Products sold on this website are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”

PART A QUESTIONS CONT. QUESTION 6

• Who do you think would be interested in reading this article or blog? Explain.

• Anyone who might be looking for information about the gut biome would be interested

in this article. Unfortunately if they were not aware of the manipulation of the topic it

might lead them to think they needed to buy the supplements recommended.

PART B SELECT THREE “STATEMENTS” FROM THE ARTICLE(BLOG) TO RESEARCH AND EVALUATE USING PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES

• Statements are just sentences from the original article or blog you selected that you would want to

examine using professional resources to determine if the information in the article (blog) is accurate and

valid.

• Put the statement in Quotes and use the exact words as written in the original

article or blog.

• Professional resources can include:

• Peer reviewed journal research articles- original research, contains abstract & pub in professional journals.

• Your Nutrition text- can only be used to evaluate one statement.

• Professional websites such as WebMD, Mayo Clinic, Eatright.org

• Use APA citation format (See APA Citation Shortcut file in Assignment folder)

PART B SELECT THREE “STATEMENTS” FROM THE ARTICLE(BLOG) TO RESEARCH

• Statement #1 “ You get your first dose of microbes as you’re being born, when you pass through your mother’s

birth canal. “ (I selected this statement as it is similar to the information on the video that was shown in class about the

gut biome. It builds on information that we already know and should be able to confirm with a professional resource. )

• This professional research article does confirm (validate) that seeding of microbes does occur as the baby moves

through the birth canal. It also discussed that there are various factors that can interfere with this process such

as the mom having a C-section. Microbiota established after a C-section are different. Using bacteria from the

mom’s vaginal canal has been used to swab the newborn to allow for the transfer of the microbes similar to that

of a vaginal birth.

• Alexis Dunn-Sheila Jordan-Brenda Baker-Nicole Carlson. (2017) The Maternal Infant Microbiome: Considerations

For Labor and Birth. American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, 42 (6), 318-325.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5648605/ doi:10.1097/NMC.0000000000000373.

PART B SELECT THREE “STATEMENTS” FROM THE ARTICLE(BLOG) TO RESEARCH

• Statement #2 “A gut that’s out of balance can lead to all kinds of serious diseases, including multiple

sclerosis, diabetes, cancer, autism, allergies and asthma.”

• This research article examines central nervous system autoimmunity and the role the gut biome may play

in causing inflammation. It proposes that more research should be done in order to determine what that

connection might be with multiple sclerosis. The original statement above implies that an imbalanced gut

biome can lead to MS, however it appears that this is a theory that needs more research. The original

statement does not mention that this is theoretical which may be misleading.

• Trevor Kirby-Javioer Ochoa-Reparaz. The Gut Biome in Multiple Sclerosis: A Potential Therapeutic Avenue. Med.

Science(Basel) 6(3): 69 Published online 2018 Aug 24.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6163724/ doi: 10.3390/medsci6030069

PART B SELECT THREE “STATEMENTS” FROM THE ARTICLE(BLOG) TO RESEARCH

• Statement #3 “Quit sugar: If you make one change to improve your gut health, make it this. Bad bacteria

love sugar and feed off of it. Cut out sugar (that includes the fructose in fruit), low-nutrient carbs,

conventional dairy and alcohol. “

• Allison Webster writes that the research does not support that consuming simple sugars will directly

cause problems with gut health. Most of the studies that have noticed that people with more simple sugars

in their diet may have poor gut health have not been able to prove that it is the consumption of sugar that

is the cause, in fact it might be a lack of fiber associated with a diet high in simple sugars. She cautions that

this is often misrepresented in the media.

• Allison Webster, PhD, RD, Sugar and the Gut Microbiome, July 6, 2018. Retrieved from

https://foodinsight.org/gut-check-sugars-and-the-gut-microbiome/ April 10, 2020.

PART C: CONCLUSION

• Short summary of how accurate you thought the article was in terms of the nutrition topic:This article

provided some facts about the gut biome. It then implies that if you have particular generic symptoms

you have an unhealthy gut and should modify your diet and take supplements that are sold on the

website. The dietary restrictions are very rigid, including avoiding all sugars (both added and natural)

which is not based on evidence.

• Would you recommend the article or blog to a friend or relative? No as it may influence them that

they need to buy the products being sold on the website.

• How has your ability to evaluate nutrition information changed as a result of this class?

• Melody’s response: I hope that everyone has become somewhat of a skeptic and understands the need

to do their own research when reviewing nutrition information on the internet or in social media..

NUTRITION ON THE NET TEMPLATE FILE

• The Nutrition on the Net Template file can be downloaded to use for formatting your written

assignment. Once it has been completed, you can convert to a PDF and upload to the

Assignment Folder in d2L.

• URL, Title, Author and date Retrieved

• Part A- Answers to Questions 1-6

• Part B- Three statements from article(blog), your evaluation of each statement’s validity and

citation of professional source used to evaluate each statement.

• Part C-Conclusions including summary, recommendations to family or friend and self reflection

on your skills in evaluating nutrition information.

ASSIGNMENT #4 NUTRITION ON THE NET GRADING RUBRIC

Grading for assignment is based on the following:

• URL and APA citation of the original article or blog analyzed 5 pts

• Part A: Completed questions 1-6 12 pts

• Part B: 3 Quotes (Statements) from the article (or blog)

and evaluation using professional resources 18 pts

• Part C: Conclusions 5 pts

Total 40 pts