Why We Eat Reflection

Why Am I Eating This?: Review of “Why We Eat What We Eat: The Psychology of Eating.” edited by Elizabeth D. Capaldi I love macaroni and cheese. I don’t mean that in an “yeah, it is really good!” way, I mean it in a “I could seriously eat this for the rest of my life” kind of way. Food has always been something I’ve loved for as long as I can remember. Not just because I need it to survive, but I actually enjoy eating food very much. It never even occurred to me that the reason I enjoy eating so much could be psychological. I always thought that was just who I was and who my friends thought I was. As it turns out, there’s a reason as to why I eat what I do and why I eat as much as you. In the book Why We Eat What We Eat: The Psychology of

Social influences on food intake refers to the impact that one or more individuals have an effect on what another person eats (EUFIC, 2004). For example, even before birth, children can obtain information from its mother about some of the foods that she’s eaten. Peter Hepper did a study where he fed pregnant rats garlic late in gestation. After the rats gave birth, the young ones were given to foster mothers that had never been given garlic. When the foster-reared pups were 12 days old, they were given the option between two dishes, one containing garlic and one containing onion. Hepper saw that the rat pups had been delivered by mothers who had been given garlic while pregnant stayed near the garlic bowl as opposed to the control liter (Galef, 208). There is also evidence that shows that the flavors of foods that a woman eats while lactating can affect the flavor of the milk. It hd also been proven that the exposure to milk flavored by foods a lactating woman has eating can affect the food preferences of her nurslings at weaning. For example, at weaning, rat babies showed enhanced preferences for foods eat by a lactating female from whom the pups had suckled for several hours, but not for the same food if it had been eaten by a female rat that acted like a mother but did not give milk during the time that the pups spent with

Researchers have found that some causes for eating disorders can be a complex interaction of genetic, biological, behavioral, psychological, and social factors. There are still many unanswered questions when it comes to eating disorders. Researchers are using the latest technology and science to better understand them. Different types of eating disorders include anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating disorder. Anorexia is an eating disorder characterized by an abnormally low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of body weight. Bulimia is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder. People with bulimia may secretly binge — eating large amounts of food — and then purge, trying to get rid of the extra calories in an unhealthy way. For example, someone with bulimia may force vomiting or engage in excessive exercise. Sometimes people purge after eating only a small snack or a normal-size meal. Binge-eating disorder is an extremely serious eating disorder in which you frequently consume unusually large amounts of food and feel unable to stop eating. When it comes to treatment, an article written by Kathryn Zerbe tells about the