WHY DO WE EAT?
M
Y GES107 lecturer told me to always eat something every morning, no matter how little, if I don’t want to damage my brain cells. My mum used to tell me never to skip meals, if I don’t want to have ulcer (I bet your mum says that too). My doctor told me to always eat good natural food and run away from junk food if I want to be healthy. My dad gets very angry whenever his food is not ready on time.
I believe all of this. I follow them like a mantra. I try to eat regularly so that the biological machine called me will have no genuine excuse to break down. Sometime ago, I was not feeling too well and I didn’t want to eat. I had no appetite, but I was still hungry. The same thing happened to a friend of mine and she asked me this question. Why do we eat?
Though it is hard to believe, more often than not, we eat because we want to eat not because we need to. In fact, research has shown that our physical level of hunger does not correlate with how hungry we feel or how much food we consume. It is all a product of our imagination.
Generally, eating is said to replace and replenish depleted resources in the body. We eat, we digest, we use up our store of energy, and then we need to refuel. To achieve a balance in this cycle, we believe we have to eat three times daily.
Who made that rule? Are Breakfast, Lunch&Dinner, compulsory for good health? Is that what the body clock dictates? I think not.
Recently, I noticed something in some Muslims who just finished the Ramadan fast. Some of them no longer feel the urge to really eat before evening for a while. This is because their bodies have already become attuned to thateating pattern. Despite this, I don’t see a reduction in their performance. In fact, it seems to make them healthier. So,that should make us question why we eat when we eat.
From my findings, here are a few things that can make you hungry; seeing, smelling, reading, or even thinking about food, Hearing music that reminds you of a good meal, walking by a place where you once ate something good. Even after you’ve had a hearty lunch, imagining something delicious can make you salivate.It is enough to walk by a doughnut shop to start wanting doughnut.Being genuinely hungry on the other hand {in the sense of physiologically needing food} matters little.
Contrary to what my GES 107 lecturer kept reiterating, my grandfather never eats before 11.00am and he is still as fit as a fiddle and as sharp as a quantum computer. Come to think of it, most of our forefathers hardly ate early in the morning. They will leave for the farm before 6:00 am and take their first meal between 11:00am and 12:00 pm (most probably). So who said that we must have three meals per day?I know who did that.It’s the white man with his western ways. In our bid to be like the almighty white man, we copied his eating habits too. That is just an aside.
More often than not, our childhood eating habits tend to stay with us for the rest of our lives and usually get passed on to our children too. So where do we get those eating habits? Our parents. Children usually take their eating cues from the adults around them. So it is very likely that if your parents take light food (say bread and tea and egg) before leaving for work in the morning, you will most probably be used to that too.
In conclusion, I am not saying it is wrong to eat and also to eat at the right time. But take note of when it is actually your right time. Take note of why you eat and what you eat. Don’t just go with the flow or else, get ready to play host to obesity and high cholesterol level, complete with all their accomplices.
I think I have more or less summarized why you eat when you do and now I will give you a list of Why you eat when you are not hungry.
10 reasons you eat when you are not hungry:
To cope: you eat a treat to celebrate when you are happy and then eat to soothe yourself when you are sad.
Boredom: when you are bored, eating seems like the best thing to do.
To fit in: sometimes we eat just because other people are eating. Just to fit in, especially at events or occasions.
Availability: sometimes we just eat just because the food is there. Having packets of biscuit in your room makes you want to eat them whenever you notice them.
Special occasions: we eat when it’s someone’s birthday, or anniversary, or naming ceremony or just name it. Ceremonies actually seem to be unending.
Because you are tired: you think eating automatically replenishes your lost nutrients in seconds. No, it doesn’t happen until you relax or sleep first.
Because its time: I earlier said we are already used to our childhood eating habits, so, once its 2:00pm, whether you are hungry or not, you just want to eat.
Because it’s free or cheap: everybody likes a freebie.
Because you can’t say no: if you are a people pleaser, it can be hard to say no especially when friends or family offer you sumptuous food.
Clean Plate Syndrome: most of us grew up hearing the stories of starving kids in various parts of the world, so, we appreciate food more.
OKEMAKINDE SAMSON K.
