by Beth Sung
Have you ever wondered how the brain perceives the world for us to understand? Intrigued by this same notion, psychologists have been trying to dig out the principles behind our concept formation. You may not be unfamiliar with the term categorization, however it is the most effective way to form a concept – by grouping objects into different categories. Why do our brains need to do this? One reason is that we want to gain maximum information while conserving finite resources as much as possible. This is the first principle behind the category system (within the memory system) – cognitive economy. When we categorize a stimulus, we need to decide whether it is not only equivalent to other stimuli in the same category but also different from stimuli not in that category. How do we do this? We examine all the properties (that is, attributes) which define each category to make sure if a stimulus belongs to it. For example, we all put a robin into the bird category while we put a sofa into the furniture category without a second thought. The reason why a robin belongs to the bird category is that it has properties such as feathers, wings, and it nests in trees. Once we recognize these definitive properties of the bird category and compare them with those of the robin, we can conclude that a robin belongs to the bird category. The same process is involved in comparing the properties of the furniture category with those of the sofa. Both have such properties as being placed in a house. As a result, it is to our advantage to achieve cognitive economy by knowing as many properties as possible in categorizing. Psychologists assert that the world has a structure and components are highly correlated with one another. That leads to the second principle of categorization – perceived world structure. To make it easier to understand the properties of feathers, fur, and wings, for example, a person knows is an empirical fact provided by the perceived world that wings co-occur with feathers more than with fur. Bearing this fact in mind helps one to decide if a new entity belongs to a bird category. In addition, psychologists also stress that what kinds of properties can be perceived are species-specific. For instance, a dog’s sense of smell is more highly differentiated than a human’s; therefore, the structure of the world for a dog must surely include properties of smell that we are incapable of perceiving. Besides, because a dog’s body is constructed differently from a human’s, its motor interactions with objects are differently structured. Then how exactly do we categorize? Psychologists suggest that we have a horizontal dimension and a vertical dimension where each object falls into its place. First, a horizontal dimension means the internal structure of categories where typicality plays an important part. The more typical of a category a member is rated, the more attributes it has in common with other members of the same category. For example, a sparrow is a typical member of the bird category; however, a chicken is not a typical member of the bird category. Second, a vertical dimension means the inclusiveness of a category. The greater the inclusiveness of a category within a taxonomy (a system by which categories are related to one another by means of class inclusion) the higher the level of inclusiveness. For instance, the furniture category is more inclusive than the chair category, which is even more inclusive than the beanbag chair category. Because the chair category contains the most essential concept, which people often use to address objects in everyday life, it is referred to as the basic-level category. For example, “I sit in a chair reading” is much clearer than “I sit in a piece of furniture reading.” Now you should more or less get an idea of how the categorization process works. So why not pay more attention to it next time when you are trying to categorize things to see if it works the same way as mentioned here. #Volume 8 Issue 1
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by Alice Lu
If you are a DFLL student, you probably have many tutoring experiences. And you’ve probably profited more than NT 100,000 annually from your tutees’ wealthy parents. Then why do I bother to write a story about it? Because every Sunday morning I deal with 80 elementary school students – early, and for free. The fact is I am a volunteer Sunday school teacher at my church, teaching kids Bible stories. After serving the Lord for half a year, I have come to the conclusion that God is indeed fair: all kids are alike. Their behavior proves that part of their DNA is from the devil, whether they have received religious teaching or not. My first class was a disaster. I was to tell fifteen first graders the story of John the Baptist. But throughout the 35-minute class, only three were sitting and listening. The others were crawling and twisting on the floor like vacuum cleaners because they were all yelling at the same time. They were full of tricks. A chubby boy constantly shouted that he had to go to the bathroom. Each time he went, he would be accompanied by the entire class who also had to go. When that stopped working, he suddenly became thirsty and had to use the water fountain. Coincidently, the whole class was then thirsty. Toward the end of the class, I was still at the beginning of the story. My students covered their ears and shook their heads. “I don’t want to listen. I don’t want to listen.” “Recess! Recess!” Yes, recess, that’s what I needed. Many people, including myself, believe girls behave better and are more courteous. This conviction was shattered by another student in Sunday school – Shing. She is nine years old, very beautiful, and is always dressed up as a princess. She also has a crush on my boyfriend, who teaches there too. Ever since she found out about our relationship, I became her victim. She tickled me, splashed me with water, hid my bag, and pushed me into the corner. She did it all pretending she was playing with me. One time she saw me holding hands with my boyfriend and was furious. I couldn’t do much about it. Jesus forgave Peter’s three denials, and I have to forgive Shing seventy-seven times. Although the children don’t pay much attention to what I say they are actually quite familiar with Bible stories. I was corrected by a student that Joseph has 11 brothers not 12. That same student once broke my glasses on purpose. These kids come to church and learn the Bible. But to them stories are for entertainment only. They are not yet ready to accept that there is a moral to every Bible story – not to mention that they should be affected by those morals. Maybe years later they will finally realize the meaning of Christianity. But before that, I can only pray for more love from God to love them truly. #Volume 8 Issue 1 by Beryl Tsai
That Sunday morning, Ursula strolled in the rain to church, with her red shoes, pink skirt, purple shirt, and multicolored parasol edged with flowers. By the time she got there she was almost drenched. The usher greeted her, with a long grin on his wrinkled face. “Good morning, what a rainy day, don’t you think?” “Good morning!” Ursula said jubilantly, almost shouting. Since she was well aware of her popularity at church, she felt bound to return his smile. The same old man she saw last week, she thought. Why did they always put an old man in front to greet people? No wonder some young people stopped coming here. She climbed the stairs and strode through the hall to the first pew, where people had already been singing for quite a while. Ursula cleared her throat and sang out loudly, holding her hymn book although she knew all the lyrics by heart. Her vigorous singing must have inspired the chorus onstage, she thought, for they all started grinning. The piano also grew louder, as Ursula sang hard, neck stretched, eyes closed. That’s why the church needs people like me, she thought, because I can help to remind them to be pious. The pastor came to the pulpit and began the sermon. Ursula sat straight in her pew, shared only by a little boy. Ursula listened to the preaching, eyes glaring, lips mumbling in a volume audible only to her, “Oh, Lord, save our pastor from his horrible Mainland accent!” she thought. “And may everyone understand his teaching!” Meanwhile she glanced at the poster behind him, and saw the word mercy. Lord, they could have done something more than write the word “mercy,” she thought, perhaps a bit of coloring and decoration would be catchier, pink flowers maybe, to match my parasol. “Amen!” yelled Ursula and stood up with her arms raised, responding to what the pastor had said. The church fell silent and even the pastor paused, frozen there as if the Holy Spirit had descended upon him. Ursula sat down in satisfaction when the pastor, inspired by her response, smiled and nodded at her. He has a fair complexion, she thought. Then the pastor announced something unusual. “Let’s divide into small groups and pray for those in our group.” After a bit of confusion, groups formed and started their prayers. Ursula looked around, and saw only empty pews around her, with no one but the little child sitting there, absent-mindedly. She approached the child, stretching a chubby purple-clad arm, but the child started fidgeting, looking around for his mother. Then before Ursula even touched him, he burst into an ugly howl. Ursula grabbed his hand and said piously, “Oh pray for this little child. May God console his heart and forgive his careless mother.” The child broke into sobs. In the middle of his prayer, the minister said through the microphone, “What’s wrong with this crying child?” Ursula felt touched, answering, “Yes, Lord, what have you done to this child?” She tightened her grip on the boy’s hand and almost hugged him while the child’s mother hurried to take him away. At the same time she waited for someone to come and invite her to their group, but of course, she thought, they were all distracted by the crying boy. Such an evil and rude child, may God curb his bad temper. People flooded out of the church. Ursula insisted on accompanying the pastor at the door to bid goodbye to everyone. “Let my parasol shield you from the sun,” she said, opening up her damp umbrella, dripping a few drops on his shoulder. He urged her to go home. He must think I had to travel hours to get here, she thought. That’s alright, he kept saying, I love the sunshine. But Ursula stayed put, shaking everybody’s hand so well, so hard, so sincerely that everyone couldn’t help smiling. What a lovely parasol! #Volume 8 Issue 1 by Serena Lin
Honesty is the best policy, and for students lacking credibility, the ETS (Educational Testing Service) has decided to implement a new policy regarding the GRE. Starting from Oct. 1, 2002, ETS has suspended the Computer-based General Test, and has implemented paper-based testing in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea. The paper-based version of the exam will take place on Nov. 23, 2002, and March 15, 2003. This drastic transformation is a response to security breaches. According to ETS, “a number of Asian-language Web sites offer both questions and answers illegally obtained by test takers who memorize and reconstruct questions and share them with other test takers. The Web sites are located in China and Korea, and easily accessed in Hong Kong and Taiwan.” After implementing the new policy, ETS expects to tackle the problem of people gaining an unfair advantage, and to protect the integrity of the test. In fact, ETS requires each test taker to sign a confidentiality statement, and it may cancel one’s scores if he/she discloses the test’s content. But apparently, the statement was only a formality. As a test taker in Taiwan, one of the “notorious” four countries, I feel as if we are being fried in our own grease. We no longer benefit from a year-round computer-based test nor an instant score report; rather, we retrogress to taking the test on restricted dates, and craning our necks for test reports. Furthermore, graduate school administrators might blacklist Taiwanese applicants and discredit our scores. Even if we are fortunately admitted, do we genuinely possess the prominent academic ability reflected from the “prominent” scores? Regarding these gloomy anxieties, Professor Han-liang Chang, the Executive Director of the LTTC, has provided some enlightening insights. Instead of viewing this transformation as a regression, he agrees with the latest paper-based version of the exam, which requires analytical writing as well. A traditional writing exam can check one’s ability to write eloquently, while questionnaire-type examinations suffer the drawback of test-takers answering questions by probability and memorization. Also, Professor Chang holds a lenient attitude towards all kinds of testing methods. “The most essential point is the quality of the test questions, not the form or structure.” He encourages NTU students to lay a sound foundation in learning English, and thus, no matter how the examinations alter, we will be able to confront challenges with composure and confidence. “Cram school organizers are those who will smart from the shock, not the students with English proficiency,” Professor Chang concluded. #Volume 8 Issue 1 By Kikuyo Yamada
Did you know that over 94% of entertainment software in Asia is pirated? Well, let me put it this way, is the music you’re listening to…real? Counterfeiting and piracy now comprise10% of world trade. Most of these fake goods originate in Asia, and China ranks as the No.1 counterfeiter. Believe it or not, almost everything can be counterfeited. VCDs, Nike shoes, peanut butter, Viagra, watches, condoms, and the latest design of Gucci handbags…anything you can think of. The scale and the amount of counterfeiting are staggering. And to make things worse, counterfeiting and piracy issues are also flaring up right now, right here in Taipei. As students we might not care much about this problem. But if we take a closer look at things around us, we will be surprised that our world is flooded with pirated goods. The most obvious case is big-name designer brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, and Chanel. If you stop by a stall at a night market and the vendor tells you that the Gucci bag is only NT 699, and that you’ll get a discount for two, you can bet it’s not real. These days, the fakers are becoming far more skilled at their trade. Even a leather expert with a microscope can hardly detect the difference in stitching between Louis Vuitton’s new Monogram bag (list price: NT 35,000) and a copy on sale for NT 1200 with street vendors in Taipei. However, have you ever realized that counterfeiting actually hinders people’s creativity? Talented people might show reluctance to be creative because their original ideas might be cheaply forged. Try to imagine yourself as a designer, strolling around the night market, when all of a sudden you notice piles of poor imitations of your work… The more pirated goods we consumers purchase, the more harmful it is to intellectual property. Violating intellectual property laws is a serious problem and we shouldn’t underestimate its outcome. Perhaps one day, even the products in the boutiques might not be real anymore, but you’ll still have to spend a great deal of money to buy them…that’s definitely not what we want to see in future. Now, are you still sure that your NT 10,000 Air Jordans are real, or a real counterfeit? Can you tell which one is real and why? #Volume 8 Issue 1 by Jean Lin
paul n. a person who is robbed easily to be pauled v. to be robbed paulish adj. robbable We all know the saying, “Some people have all the luck.” I have no idea where this proverb originated, but I’m sure they forgot to add one word. That is, some people have all the bad luck. My friend, Paul, is one of those people. This summer, a lot of my friends coincidently chose to go to Europe. Before we went, of course, we heard endless horror stories of how tourists got ripped off, and how passports could get stolen. But the thing is, the only one who got robbed in Europe was Paul. Four times! There must be a catch somewhere. Are there seriously certain types that get robbed, and is my friend Paul one of them? Most of you probably remember the French movie Amelie, with its beautiful setting in the Montmarte of Paris. Cute little souvenir shops, pigeons and merry-go-rounds. But to Paul, Montmarte was a nightmare. Innocent and unknowing, Paul was happily shopping for little trinkets such as Eiffel Tower key chains in a petit souvenir store, when a hand reached from behind him and tried to take his wallet out of the side pocket of his shorts. Most people would react immediately, yelling “Thief!” or “Help!” – but my friend Paul stayed quite calm and simply pulled his wallet back from the thief and put it back in the same pocket. Can you blame the thief for wanting a second go? So Paul was robbed a second time. (Mentally replay the first robbery, please.) When Paul’s frightening Paris stay was over, he went to Milan. Sitting on a nice park bench, sun shining down on the magnificently large map he was looking at, Paul was approached by a handsome stranger. The stranger asked for a lighter and engaged Paul in light conversation. While talking, Paul noticed that the stranger’s hand was inching towards his backpack, and simply watched while the hand unzipped his bag and took out his wallet. Something struck Paul as fishy, and reluctantly letting his great map fall from his hands, he seized his wallet and put it into the side pocket of his shorts. Quickly stuffing his map in his bag, Paul got up and walked away as fast as his legs could carry him. The stranger kept up and told Paul not to be afraid. Paul almost believed him until he felt his side pocket unzipping. The stranger had struck again. Is there a moral to this story? (By the way, it’s true.) I guess most of you can learn several travel tips from this. For example, never put your wallet back into the same place after somebody has tried to take it from you. Avoid reading large colorful maps at all times because it makes you a good target. But I think the real point is, if you look too nice and innocent, just stay home. Or maybe there is no moral, just simply that some people have all the bad luck. #Volume 8 Issue 1 by Jesse Chen
Try to picture this in your mind: a fairly tall and husky man is riding his big motorbike on the street, perhaps wearing a pair of sunglasses. Cool? What if I tell you that he is actually a teacher in our department and looks like a big Teddy Bear? Still cool? Or cute? Or incredible? How about all of them?! Find time and come to the LTTC and you may have the chance to see him for yourself. His name is James D. Uchniat. Sounds sort of weird? Mr. Uchniat felt the same way. So one day he typed his name into Google to see what he could find – that was the first time he found that there existed many more people with the same last name than he had imagined. Take the phonetic symbols of book’s “ook,” knee’s “nee,” and hot’s “ot” and put them together— that’s how his family name should be pronounced in English, ‘ukniat, which is of Eastern European origin. Life is always unpredictable, and Mr. Uchniat’s is no exception. Before starting to teach English, mainly composition, he had a long, long journey to take. He took Dramatic Literature and Theater History as his major and Cinema Studies as his minor in university, all of which reflect his deep interest in film. After graduation he had his first job in a retail company but he didn’t like it. A period of time later he was fired, and then, he had another job in a trade magazine. But later, he was fired again. After that he began to help write a script based on improvisation for his friend, who was the director of an experimental theater group, and that was the first turning point in his life. Some weeks after the performance he was asked if he would like to teach writing in the Expository Writing Program at New York University. But in order to teach writing, he had to register as a graduate student first. Thus, he began to teach writing, and that was also the start of his career as an English Education major in graduate school. From his courses and his tutoring experience in graduate school, Mr. Uchniat started to understand a bit about “second language interference” and take an interest in it; meanwhile, he was thinking that it would be interesting to teach in Asia. Before accepting any contract, Mr. Uchniat decided to have a look at Asia first. From Hong Kong to Mainland China, either he was not feasible for the job he wanted or he didn’t like the environment. Then he came to Taiwan. It was March, the spring rain was drizzling, everything was so green and beautiful, and Mr. Uchniat thought “I’m going to try to find a position here!” God heard him. Some time later, through a friend’s help and his own ability, he got an offer from NTU and came to Taiwan again; this time, he settled down and started his new life. Though having been in Taiwan for over ten years, Mr. Uchniat “unfortunately” still speaks Chinese not much better than a child. Has he tried to learn it? Yes he has, but according to him he is somehow “tone-deaf,” which means he can’t differentiate Chinese tones, as in music. Hence, instead of “learning” Chinese, Mr. Uchniat has taken the alternative of “acquiring” it. However, that doesn’t seem to be very helpful – “I can speak a little bit of Chinese, but my listening comprehension is almost nil,” he said. Even under such a situation of almost “one-way communication,” Mr. Uchniat says he has not only lived a pleasant life here but has been to almost every city/county in Taiwan, including Penghu. No kidding, he has even been to the famous Ma-Zu Temple in Bei-Gang several times to bai-bai! But how? With a little bit of spoken language, a lot of body language and pointing and help from friends, nothing is impossible. Having grown accustomed to Taiwan, when asked about his future plans Mr. Uchniat answered that it is likely he’ll stay in Taiwan even after retiring from NTU. One of his reasons is that Taiwanese people are friendly and willing to help others so there aren’t many difficulties in living here. However, another reason is more peculiar – “I would rather be hot than cold,” he said. In fact, he likes the sub-tropical weather and has little desire to go back to live in a place with a freezing cold winter. It’s not healthy, he said, and he doesn’t have enough winter clothes anyway! As a teacher in the department, Mr. Uchniat has some advice for students, which I would like to call “Double L’s and a Single R.” The two L’s stand for Latin and Logic. In his opinion, if a person knows a little bit of Latin, s/he will be able to learn other European languages easily, such as French, Spanish, or Italian, because Latin is their root. Besides, quite a few English words also come from Latin, and thus knowing it will also help us to learn English. As for logic, he explained, “you have to have a logic to argue, and your conclusion is based on your logic.” It’s important that one can present an idea logically, both in writing and in conversation. And, the single R, which refers to Responsibility, means a student should be responsible for his or her own study, especially freshmen, because it may be the first time their parents are not standing behind them watching them all the time. So be responsible for yourself and your study, Mr. Uchniat emphasizes, not only in school but after graduation as well. #Volume 8 Issue 1 by Abel Lei
This summer, I was lucky enough to participate in the eighth Asia-Pacific Congress on Deafness. Not only did I learn a lot about the technology, education, welfare, and environment concerning deaf people, but I also gained a closer view of their lives. Something impressive happened on the first day of the meeting. I wondered why a speaker from America had such a weird accent; how could a native speaker sound like that, I thought. Afterwards, I realized that he was deaf. Amazing! He was able to deliver a speech just like a person who could hear. In fact, this isn’t amazing at all, as long as an appropriate learning environment is provided for hearing impaired people. Many people, including myself, hold the stereotype that deaf people can only communicate using sign language. But deaf people can also acquire oral language. This doesn’t mean we have to force them to learn oral language and to give up sign language. Because of their physiological structure, deaf people should first acquire sign language as their “mother tongue,” researchers have suggested. On the other hand, acquiring oral language enables them to communicate with their hearing parents, who often communicate only in oral language. It is necessary for every child to establish interactive communication with his/her parents, siblings, and surroundings. To achieve this goal, every deaf child should have the right to grow up bilingual – with both sign and oral language. Based on this reasoning, school-aged children with hearing impairment should attend ordinary public schools. This requires qualified teachers to teach both hearing and deaf children. Teachers should integrate hearing impaired students into their classes, helping them to become socialized. After class, qualified teachers should work with a team of special educators to solve teaching problems and improve teaching quality. All teachers should know that prelingually deaf children who suffer from hearing loss before learning languages are different from postlingually deaf children. In addition, even within one hearing disorder there are differences of degree. Fortunately, teachers do not have to fight alone. They can modify their classrooms into an ideal teaching environment. First, teachers could arrange preferential seats according to the side of the deaf child’s dominant ear. Then, multi-sensory approaches can be applied, such as closed captioning and other deaf services, to teach in a more visual way. Third, peer tutors can be note takers for deaf students. Finally, teachers themselves can be more sensitive when monitoring deaf students. They should increase wait-time for a response after asking a question, and make sure that everything is understood. During the welcome banquet of the congress, I received another shock – performances by hearing impaired children. Try to imagine a pair of boys with hearing loss reciting Chinese like any hearing person and you will know how touched I was. They proved that “hearing impairment is not equal to being a deaf-mute.” Through bilingualism, it is possible for deaf children to develop, communicate, and live like any other children. It is not only their right to grow up bilingual but also our responsibility to provide such an environment. #Volume 8 Issue 1 by Frank Lin
“Get out of the bed! We’re almost there!” A muffled voice like thunder rumbling in the sky threw me out of my sweet slumber. I struggled to sit up, rubbing my eyes and wondering what exactly was meant by the word “here,” only to find myself cooped up in a small space with a single window on one side. Through the window a bleak landscape shrouded with mist was revealed while the room kept moving. Horrified, for a moment I believed I was abducted by aliens, till the idea finally struck my slow brain that I was in a train heading to Santiago de Compostela, a city in the northwest of Spain. Santiago de Compostela, the city which marks the end of my pilgrimage, the Road to Saint James (El Camino de Santiago), which has housed for centuries the relics of the apostle James, allegedly discovered under the basement of the Cathedral (La Catedral). The train stopped. We walked out. The chilly wind came first to greet us, reminding us that it was still quite early, around 5 a.m. The station here, compared with that in Barcelona and Madrid, was small and even shabby, but somehow I felt secure. At least no one stared menacingly. Inside the station it was silent, with only a few passengers at such an early hour. We were quiet, too, tired with all the traveling and lack of sleep. The silence lasted a long while, until it was at length broken by two intruders hurrying into the hall – a middle-aged woman and a young man. As they detected us, they fixed their eyes suspiciously upon us. Reassuring themselves, they pointed at me until they were finally certain of my identity. The woman embraced me and, without asking permission, touched her cheeks with mine, which surprised me a little, and which was afterwards understood as the Spanish way of greeting. As for the young man, to my great relief, he merely shook hands with me and smiled. That was how I met my homestay parents. Sitting in the car, they briefly introduced the city to me, and through the window I had my first glace of the streets in Santiago de Compostela: row after row of stone-built houses; broad roads paved with stone; the solemn churches and city monuments standing on almost every corner – as if the city had never been touched by Time, an outdoor museum. Shortly after we got home, my homestay mother, Anne, proposed to walk to school with me, so I could learn the way. When she told me that it’s around 30 minutes’ walk I was stunned. “It’s a long way. Do I have any alternative?” I asked her. Apparently confused, she answered, “Why? It’s no big deal. I myself walk everyday to work. It takes me 40 minutes.” I vaguely perceived something fundamentally different inside our brains. So from tomorrow to the end of the language course, I, a heavy sleeper who couldn’t even manage to attend class at 10 a.m. in Taiwan, was forced to get up every morning at 7 and walk 30 minutes to school. Somehow I made it. And, though it was bitter to get up so early, the walk itself was quite enjoyable, and somehow it has become the most vivid part of my memory of the city. Every morning, while most townsfolk were still asleep, I slung my bag over my shoulder and set out on my solitary walk to school. The air was cold and refreshing. In the neighborhood all was quiet. Not a living soul was in sight. After a few minutes’ walk the Cathedral, with its towers like two great horns penetrating the sky, gradually revealed itself. “Lift up your head and look for the towers of the Cathedral, and you’ll never get lost,” a local once told me. And indeed, you can always depend on the Cathedral, since it is the highest building in the neighborhood. Turning into a narrow alley I passed a row of seafood restaurants. Santiago is close to the coast, so the city has a daily shellfish supply. Most of the restaurants were still closed, but some had already started to unload their cargo. Not until 3 or 4 p.m., when it is the Spanish time for lunch, will the street be crowed and every restaurant crammed with people. Crossing the restaurant street I proceeded in my solitary saunter. In another five minutes I would arrive at school and end my routine walk. Compared to a real pilgrimage, mine was nothing in length, but the memory of it was so vivid, even glaring, that it seemed to me the only meaningful thing I’d ever done in Spain. Wandering like a ghost in the winding pathways among the historic buildings, I often indulged myself in the pleasure of deliberately getting lost in the city, a city that was incredibly harmonized with history and modern life, for I knew that, whenever I got lost, I could just lift up my head and the Cathedral would always be there. #Volume 8 Issue 1 by Eleanore Lin
From lawmakers to the mayor of Taipei, we know that trying to get fit and slim down is no longer the privilege of young people. On the contrary, people of all ages and both sexes are joining in this prolonged fight against fat. An irresistible fashion trend, perhaps, but with so many ways supposedly to lose weight, how can we decide which one is worth trying? Before you start anything new, let me remind you of some facts that might spare your vain attempts: Relying entirely on dieting inevitably leads to failure. When we take in fewer calories, our metabolism spontaneously slows down in order to save energy for our bodies. That is, our bodies consume fewer calories, which makes our weight loss even harder. Even if we do lose some weight simply by eating less, chances are that one-forth of what we got rid of is actually muscle, not fat. As soon as we resume regular diets, we are very likely to gain more weight than we lost because of the slow metabolism. Thus, exercise is essential for losing fat since it’s the only way to speed up our metabolism. Taking in different nutrients separately does not help weight loss. There is hearsay information suggesting that people who want to lose weight shouldn’t eat fat and carbohydrate at the same time. When eating a hamburger, for example, the beef and the bread should be eaten separately. However, a study published in International Journal of Obesity points out that what counts in weight loss is the total calories assimilated, not eating food separately. High protein/low carbohydrate diets not only are useless for weight loss but can be hazardous to our health. Research conducted by American Dietetic Association shows that eating only protein causes many side effects, such as an increase in cholesterol, dysfunction of kidneys, and running off of calcium. The researchers hold that if we don’t eat starch or carbohydrates at all, our bodies would be forced to burn fat or protein for metabolizing, which accounts for the weight loss in the primary stage. If we keep this kind of pure protein diet over a long period of time, however, we would make our bodies be in an extremely weary state and gradually lose our appetite. Suffering from the natural reactions of their bodies, ordinary people by degrees return to regular diets and regain weight. Those who sustain such a diet end up in hospital due to the breakdown of their health. A very-low-fat diet may compromise immune function. A University of Buffalo study has shown that people who severely limit the amount of fat in their diets may be suppressing their immune system and increasing their susceptibility to infections and inflammation. Dietary fat indeed affects our health. The researchers indicated that neither too much nor too little dietary fat is good. Only with proper dietary fat can our immune system effectively defend our health. Since we all want both fitness and good health, we really have to be cautious in the pursuit of fitness. To be a successful “loser,” never risking one’s health should always be the first principle of conduct. #Volume 8 Issue 1 |
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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