The Western dietary influence affects many cultures. Technological advances can bring benefits to everyone, but sometimes the time-saving, mass-processing preservation of food is not in the best interest of nutrition. People of all cultures can be influenced by sweeter or saltier foods or new and different foods altogether. We all like change, especially if it appears to be a “step up.” But often it isn’t (see previous discussion of Industrialized Diet). Eating refined flour or sugar products may be all right occasionally, but the natural, wholesome and homemade foods are better. And whether these refined foods are tastier, easier to chew, or a status symbol, when they replace the basic staples of the diet, that is when trouble may begin.

North American
Though the North American diet (South Americans have a very different diet) varies regionally and culturally, I will focus here on the common trends that cross over and influence so much of the population. The Canadian diet, in my understanding, is very similar to that of the United States. Diet-linked diseases that are common in both countries similarly affect immigrants, even though those diseases may be rare in their native lands. This has been demonstrated in studies of the incidence of breast cancer among Japanese women living in the United States, of colon cancer among Asians, and of diabetes.

All the factors that were discussed in the Industrialized Diet apply particularly to the American diet, which has been most affected by technology in our food industry. The evolution in the tastes of the average food consumer of toDay has involved a significant desensitization to the natural flavors in food. The modern consumer is attracted to the rich taste of fatty meats and fried oily foods, salty and sugary snacks, artificial flavorings and additives, and coffee, colas, and other stimulating soda pops. To speak of the refined food diet is actually a contradiction in terms, as this does not represent a “refined” taste at all, but taste buds that need to be knocked with a sledge hammer to wake up. Many nutritionists consider those refined flour products such as breads, pastries, and doughnuts and the refined sugary goodies from cereals to sodas as hardly “foods” at all. It is difficult for people used to these “processed” foods to experience much enjoyment or psychological satisfaction from a simple meal of rice and vegetables, with or without some animal protein. The diet of our culture has become an “anticultural” diet, definitely not one that our ancestors would have approved.