The act of eating has been turned into an unconscious, gustatory, calorie consuming food-fest. Many people give no consideration to what they consume: others continually ponder what they are eating, have eaten and will (eventually) eat. The prevalence of health issues in the U.S.A. is in large part due to the consuming of (dead) calories. Society is replete with advertisements that function to stimulate cerebral areas that are responsible for eating and hunger. Those struggling with weight issues are, unknowingly, being influenced by these advertisements. To arrest the triggers which cause spontaneous eating is a discipline that requires resolve. Doing this will help one to be more observant of their consumption and encourage health enhancing habits.
Many people eat for the convenience of eating. Eating has been turned into a socialized phenomenon. Unconscious urges to consume are rife throughout the ranks of the masses. People stop into a convenience store and end up buying a snack upon leaving. Caloric consumption is thrust upon the individual at every turn. The many, unbeknownst to themselves, allow the pull of the senses to take them by the hand, leading them to the land of taste bud satiation. An oral fixation becomes engrained into the subconscious mind. This sets the stage for unconscious nibbling and eating. In these cases, the foodstuffs of (non)choice tend to not be the most health enhancing. Calorically satiating the senses can override the logic of eating in a manner that promotes overall wellbeing. Thus, we eat to eat.
What are we eating? Studies show that the predominance of what is available for purchase really does not promote lasting health effects. The convenience of many foodstuffs is what lends to their inherent attractiveness. The convenience factor contributes to a disconnect between what one is consuming and what one is purchasing. The mind cognizes that one is purchasing some type of food. The senses are in anticipatory mode of some type of food that will soon be consumed, whatever it maybe. The other side of the coin is that some people are constantly thinking about eating. They may be eating one thing and simultaneously thinking about something else. The point of confluence betwixt the two extremes is that consumption is taking place. Thoughts about consciously eating, in either case, may not be at play.
Health and caloric consumption are joined at the hip, so to speak. Good health is predicated upon several factors such as medical care, genetics, hydration, environment, and balanced diet. Balanced diet is major in that the constituents needed to build and maintain a healthy body require sufficiency of quality nutrients. This requirement is promoted in a less than adequate fashion. Many people eat what is easily available. “A study showed that the proportion of deaths associated with suboptimal diet varied across demographic groups. For instance, the proportion was higher among men than women; among blacks and Hispanics compared to whites; and among those with lower education levels”. Other factors do contribute to ill health but improving dietary intake can vastly enhance the likelihood improvements in overall health and wellness.
The effect that advertising can have on food consumption and health cannot be overstated. A study by Hedy Kober, who runs the Clinical & Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at Yale University, and graduate student Rebecca Boswell, decided to collate the evidence on the effect of exposure to food cues — both real food and visual cues like ads — and craving on both weight gain and eating behavior. They looked at 45 published reports involving about 3,300 participants. “We found very, very strong relationships between reactivity and cues and weight and eating,” explains Kober. She points to the results, published online in the journal Obesity Reviews, and promotes the need to crack down on how food companies advertise to us.
What is resolve with regard to the onslaught of incessant advertising and nutritionally void food items? The exercising of resolve, although challenging, is a quality that can slice through the sturm and drang maintaining health in the face of such challenges. Some may need to have an intervention enacted on their behalf. Overcoming habits which dwell in the subconscious can be an overwhelming venture. The repetition of engaging personal resolve will, step by step, bring one face to face with those programs that inhibit progress. It is the step by step process by which one can dismantle those programs and untangle themselves from the fixation on food as psychosensorial appeasement. This does not mean that food is not to be enjoyed. It is moreso an admonishment: food is not an end unto itself but a means to an end.
To see an individual approach eating from a measured perspective is, for many people, akin to a fish swimming upstream. The masses by and large do not take heed to what they consume. This is due to the lack of attention to totality of calories and density of nutrients contained in many food items. People do not want to put ‘that much thought’ into their dietary habits. Yet, one’s overall outlook, on diet, on life, on existence is beneficially influenced by exercising the capacity to be more discerning about habits of dietary consumption. Eat healthfully, live healthfully . . . this motto should be plastered . . . . everywhere. To do this would greatly benefit society but there are ‘monied interests’ who would strongly object to the promotion of social wellbeing and overall health. The individual must then take the initiative to commandeer their (own) ship into healthier ports.
Foods have become relegated to the domain of sense stimulation and pacification; a feel good, go to when one is bored. A lot of unconscious food consumption is occurring in society today. Much of what is being eaten qualifies as dead calories. Another related concern is that not a lot of dietary variety comprises what many people consume. Advertising is contributory to the tendency compulsively snack or eat to a significant degree. To address this tendency requires that one deal with their (perceived) need to (regularly) assuage their (induced) psychological and sense driven needs with food. Seeing oneself and one’s surroundings more clearly will evolve through developing this ability.
Ab-Sutra Wellness and Fitness 