The psychology of eating is an essential field of study in the modern world, especially when it comes to nutritional science. With obesity becoming a major health issue, psychologists have researched the emotional and psychological aspects of eating in an effort to explain eating behavior and help people deal with weight or health issues. This includes a lack of eating or an addiction to. Problems are usually caused by psychological problems relating to food or drinks and can result in eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Food is central to the lives of all, and more recently, media interest has focused public attention on the food we eat, and its influence on physical health and mental well-being. However, it is only in the past …show more content…
It was much simpler back then, those who ate, survived, and those who didn’t, died. Every day people spend hours not only eating and preparing food but also thinking about it. However, such concepts cannot answer why people keep eating even when they do not physically need food or why people develop eating habits that harm their health and endanger their life. There is no explanation as to why certain people have more harmful eating habits than …show more content…
Logue, 2004)1. Logue found that impulsive individuals, people who enjoy taking risks and cynical, competitive and aggressive individuals are all more likely to be overweight as they tend to give in to temptation and lack the discipline to stay healthy. Additionally, he suggests studies that show stomach contractions are not necessary prerequisites for hunger. Certain sensations can affect hunger. For example, cooking noises and the smell of food can make a person feel hungry and crave it (A.W. Logue, 2004)1. Such a process is similar to Ivan Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning, where he demonstrated that dogs start to salivate at the sight or noise associated with
Eating the pizza instead of the salad seemed like a good idea at the time, but now one is stuck in this sloth like state hours later. It seems letting cravings control what and how to eat is not the best strategy to healthy living. Mary Maxfield, in her article “Food For Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Food” discusses her views on how people should eat. She believes people crave what their bodies need, therefore, people should eat what they crave. Maxfield claims that diet, health, and weight are not correlated with each other, and because of this, people view obesity as unhealthy, thus forcing them to distinguish “right, healthy” foods from the “wrong, unhealthy” choices. As a result, she concludes that science has nothing to do with
Nutritionism is an ideology that believes that the nutrients in foods are the key to understanding them. Nutritionism believers are so focused on the nutrients that food contains that they forget about all other aspects of food. The problem is that consumers rely on packaging to tell them what nutrients a food provides, since nutrients cannot be obviously seen, and they rely on science to tell us what nutrients are good and which are “evil”.
All in all, this book is a great read for those seeking to learn more about food and how it relates to all aspects of life and history as well as find that extra push in taking the initiative in improving one’s eating habits and lifestyle. It serves as an easy to follow introduction into a healthy relationship with food including with simple guidelines that are not too forceful or complex to understand.
Ziauddeen and Fletcher in this article discuss the concept of food addiction from a clinical and neuroscientific perspective. They argue that the evidence in food addiction is limited and that further research must be done in order to fully validate the concept. Despite the uncertainty, food addiction has influenced the neurobiological models of obesity and developing debates about formulation of the public health policy. Ziauddeen and Fletch also debate that because there are so many possibly pathways leading to obesity, it is unlikely that food addiction is the most effective cause. Even with their caution, they also propose there are many arguments saying many aspects of eating in obesity are “addictive.”
Eating is an instinctual habit; however, what we decide to put in our body is a choice that will affect our way of living. In “The American Paradox,” Michael Pollan, a professor of journalism at University of California, Berkeley, disapproves of the way Americans have been eating. The term “American paradox” describes the inverse correlation where we spend more of our time on nutrition, but it would only lead to our overall health deteriorating. According to Pollan, our way of eating that had been governed with culture, or our mother, was changed by the entities of food marketers and scientists, who set up nutritional guidelines that changed the way we think about food. Nutritional advice is inaccurate as it is never proven, and it is not beneficial
There may be murmurs about that girl who only fixes herself a salad with only vinegar at dining services or suspicious glances at someone who spends 45 minutes on the treadmill and then switches to the stair stepper at the rec. On-campus eating disorders are talked about everywhere and yet are not really talked about at all. There is observation, concern, and gossip, but hushed conversation and larger scale efforts to help and change never seem to earn public attention.
Eating is important to survival of humans. Humans need to consume food on a daily bases to intake protein, sodium, vitamins,etc. Over the years since the 20th century the rate of obesity has grown and is still growing, it is a problem in the US. Many people like me overeat and eat the wrong stuff and don’t workout to burn all those calories. The amount I eat is what I hate about myself so much because all that I eat goes in my body and stores the food as fat which grows on my body and I don’t feel or look good. This is why I chose to change this part of my lifestyle, I need to change myself for the better.
Socio political ramifications of being overweight, the concept of eating to survive, and the good, bad, and ugly of school foods. These are all important concepts to address and I have my own opinion of all of them. I never thought of being underweight the same way as I thought of being overweight. I would say that being underweight would be based on how skinny someone is based off their age and the regular weight for people that are of that age even though I never thought of someone being underweight before. I would say that the ramifications for someone being overweight would be someone of large/obese size based off of their age and not from muscle but from body fat. I think that we have already gone beyond the concept of eating to survive because in this era people still eat in general when they get hungry but it's more for the taste of our food or the size of it for yourself because we have cravings for the taste of things because of things like sugar and just the fact that it is junk food provides a crave. The good school foods for me are foods that have low costs and are fresh. The bad in my opinion are foods that are either soggy or have not been kept warm. The ugly in my
Addictive drugs like nicotine and cocaine and heroin, all can rewire the brain to crave the satisfaction that these agents produce. The desire becomes so strong that it starts to take over the body and it no longer becomes for pleasure and it becomes a need for your body. Now likewise, some people argue that some foods have the same power and effects on people that drugs do, where some of these foods can alter the brain in a way that is resets the appetite and satisfaction threshold in a way that it’s out of reach, meaning a person can never have enough. The obesity levels these days semi-dangerous, so some doctors have conducted an experiment that tested the effects of some foods on the brain, where they took 12 obese men after they consumed two milkshakes, whit the same amount of calories, protein, fat and carbohydrates, and they were equally sweet. (Sifferlin 2013) On the other hand one milkshake had much higher glycemic index from the carbohydrates. After the a few hours the blood sugar levels went down leaving the men hungry again. But after they ate the region of the brain that is related to addictive drugs and behaviors was triggered. In this paper food addiction is discussed and shown that it is a real problem that further critical analysis and experiments should be conducted on such issue.
Thus, Van Gucht and colleagues (2008) provided empirical support for the idea that neutral stimuli can be paired with food through classical conditioning and that these stimuli can elicit craving and approach tendencies. Additional studies have corroborated the conclusion that food cues can be conditioned via Pavlovian conditioning procedures (Van Gucht, Baeyens, Hermans, & Beckers, 2010; Van Gucht, Vansteenwegen, Beckers, & Van Den Bergh, 2008). However, none of these studies have addressed the most important question relating to emotional eating: can emotions can become a CS through classical
Mindfulness unlocks your senses. It is the practice of being fully aware of what is happening within and around you in the moment. This is not easy to do! Practicing mindfulness helps people make better choices in regards to what and how they eat. There is a lot to learn here, but taking simple steps like noticing the smells, temperatures, textures and tastes of the foods in your meal is a good place to start. Mindful eating also requires you to reduce distractions such as physical, mental, social and emotional ones. People often find that they enjoy their food much more once beginning more mindful approaches to eating. Mindful eating also seems to improve food choices, in both what and how people eat. It essentially reshapes your relationship with food and makes eating more enjoyable because you learn your reactions to food preferences, habits and tastes.
Food addiction can lead to serious and difficult health concerns. Nevertheless, obesity has other health issues that comes with it as well. In the United States between 2007 and 2009 there has been a 1.1% increase of obesity (Pedram). There has been an assumption that if it continues by 2050 it would be close to 100% of Americans who would be obese (Pedram). This information explains that the increase in overconsumption of food can slowly make most Americans suffer from obesity. Another issue of obesity is that it is “the fifth leading cause of global death” (Pedram). Becoming a food addict can cause an individual into becoming obese that they may eventually face death. Food addiction has become quite a controversial that it is difficult to overcome as fast food restaurants are encouragement in individuals to choose the path of obesity. Nevertheless, obesity is still a health issue that is harmful and dangerous to an
Eating as entertainment is often referred to as emotional eating, which means using food to fulfill some other emotional need like loneliness, boredom, or sadness. You might sit in front of the TV and eat a whole pack of cookies. Or, you might find yourself eating a gallon of ice cream that one weekend when all of your friends are too busy to hang out. Emotional eating can lead to problems losing weight or result in you gaining unwanted pounds. if you are having problems with eating to entertain yourself, you need to learn how to [[Eat Healthy | develop a healthier approach to eating]].
Food is a great obsession to human beings; it also can say something about us beyond what we decide to put in our mouths. Michael Pollan’s research shows that we are not really eating healthy we are convenient eaters. We much prefer quantity over quality, and this is the reason why we have an issue with obesity today, however, eating doesn’t have to be complicated. Yes, we need to worry about how we eat but not to the extent where it is unhealthy. Food is everywhere it’s a part of our lives. Without it we wouldn’t survive, but are we taking the easy way and eating too unhealthy? Is eating unhealthy all we have really known? What can our food choices say about us, beyond what we choose to put into our mouths? Is being defined by our food a bad thing? How does Social Media influence how we eat?
Previously to taking this class, I had never given much thought to my eating habits. I always thought of the way I chose to eat as one of those things I didn’t need to concern myself with too heavily now because I’m a young broke college student. The way I eat is pretty similar to the way most of my friends eat and when you live away from home, that seems like the norm for people in college. However, after applying what I’ve learned in this class to my life, I’ve realized that the dietary choices I make now affect not only my current health, but my future health as well. So overall, I would say that my eating habits are pretty bad, but I’m working on making them better.