WHY DO WE EAT WHAT WE EAT!
Did you notice that you feel like eating outside on Friday nights, you feel like drinking tea accompanied with fried pakodas on a rainy day or you feel like eating ice-cream when you’re sad and alone? Well, it’s true! There is a reason behind thing we do and they all pertain to be linked with entities that affect us emotionally, mentally and physically.
In fact, there are certain triggers that are present all around us that make us eat the way we do. It really would help us control our eating habits if we knew what these effectors are. Well there are many determinants that can be categorized like Biological factors, Physiological factors, Social factors etc. Let’s look at some of these in detail. There are also some interesting facts worth knowing which might enlighten us and help us curb or improve our eating habits.
Biological determinants
These determinants consist of hunger, appetite, and taste. Many of us eat when our hunger level is at the maximum which makes us eat more than the required portion. Our appetites also differ daily. For e.g.: If one day the food is not that tasty, we end up eating less, but if the food prepared is our favorite dish; we end up stacking our plates and eat extra. Based on that we end up ingest or eating more than required and fail to burn up all the excess energy.
Economic determinants
Imagine a special combo offer where you get soup free with noodles. Won’t you go for it? Well that is what happens most if the times. Economic determinants basically involve cost of the product, income level and availability of the product. Many times we end up buying combo offers to save money, or go to dhaba’s or any affordable restaurant to suit our budget and what do we end up with? We end up eating food that has lesser nutritional value.
Physical determinants
We often wonder why we eat outside. Well the simple reason is that it is convenient and we can afford it. Physical determinants affect our eating habits a lot. We tend to give importance to time, convenience etc. For the essence to saving time and effort; we chose to go out or prepare instant meals. Our lifestyle also affects us a lot. For example, the working class seems to be in a hurry to skip breakfast generally. We tend to sleep late and get up late, which has a direct effect on our meal patterns. Sleeping late encourages the habit of snacking at night – not recommended for a healthy lifestyle.
Result is the consumption of food with inferior nutritional value. Time, convenience, cooking skills, lifestyle, education of food items etc. are all physical determinants. Studies indicate that the level of education can influence dietary behavior during adulthood (Kearney et al. 2000). In contrast, nutrition knowledge and good dietary habits are not strongly correlated. This is because knowledge about health does not lead to direct action when individuals are unsure how to apply their knowledge.
Social determinants
If you are born in a Punjabi family, it would be no surprise that your intake of dairy products would be more. You’ll observe that people of the Indian, Mexican or Moroccan origin like spicy and savory where as people from British origin like light spiced food. This is quite natural. Our culture, family, peers are social factors that have a great influence on our meal patterns. You’d also note that if you happen to be surrounded by friends, you’d end up choosing what the majority in the group has to order.
Attitudes, beliefs and food knowledge
Our belief system has a direct impact on meals we consume. It should be no surprise that a vegetarian would be consuming lesser proteins compared to a non-vegetarian. Some people tend to be very careful about what they eat. They consciously make the choice of eating less oil and spice. This conscious effort is called and ‘Optimistic bias” attitude towards food. This should be encouraged. Also you might observe, people who have food know-how are more aware of the food choices they need to make. Lack of food knowledge is also why we end up making bad choices.
Psychological determinants
Lastly there are some feelings that take over us that make us eat. For instance; if we go to a movie, we must have popcorn to complete the mood. Or when we are angry we might not eat at all. On a general note, when we are stressed at work; our snacking habits increase along with the intake of coffee and tea in between meals. If we are happy we might want to pamper ourselves with a luxurious take away meal. Factors such as mood, stress and guilt make an extra-ordinary effect on our meal patterns. It would be much better we can resist the feeling of the moment and be strong-willed.
THE LAST WORD
The fact is that there are food triggers cannot be ignored, but they can be controlled. A little determination and knowledge can help us sail through these determinants to make better and healthier food choices. We can't control situation, but we can control our moods. We can't control social gatherings, but we can say "no" to the majority and eat what you think is healthy! We can’t control special occasions but we can work out the extra energy systematically and regularly. We can choose to sleep and eat on time; we can choose to learn more about what we eat. The nutrition value of what we consume is very important and to compromise with it on a daily basis does have harmful effects, especially if you have any medical condition .So do enjoy your meals; but with a little Self-Control and a sense of Optimism.
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