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The endocrine system is largely impacted by the foods we eat. I love cooking and I love making healthy foods look beautiful in photographs, so naturally food art was something that instantaneously came to mind for this art project. The foods I used in this project are all wholesome, beautiful foods. I have a blueberry that represents the hypothalamus, a red bean represents the pituitary gland, raspberries represent the thyroid and red beans represent the parathyroid. Quinoa represents the thymus, the corn represents the pancreas, pineapple represents the adrenal glands, cashews represents the ovaries and eggs represent the testes.
My project for this class was aimed at bringing awareness to a common problem that is constantly overlooked in American culture. Our advanced medical system promotes largely the use of taking medications to heal us, yet the answer to healing is right in front of us. The foods we eat impact a bodily system that generates many diseases that could easily be prevented – the resolution to the increasing amount of cancers, diabetes, osteoporosis, fertility disorders, even cardiovascular diseases could all be prevented if we took care of the one system that never gets the attention it deserves – the endocrine system.
Dannielle’s project aimed to bring awareness to how nutrition plays an important role in human health. She specifically covered the endocrine system as certain foods and toxins can disrupt this hormone regulating system. The food art was meant to show how eating whole foods can help to protect and aid the endocrine system. In contrast, eating foods such as dairy can cause issues with certain hormone productions. For example, Dannielle mentioned in her paper that insulin-like growth factor 1 in dairy products can affect estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels. The pineapple (adrenal gland), cashews (ovaries), and eggs (testes) represent the part of the endocrine system which helps to produce those hormones. The foods used in her art showcase how eating for nutrition could help in preventing diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, PCOS, and many others.