Pinel - Hunger, Eating and Health

The processes of eating and drinking are natural human instincts. These processes allow us to acquire the energy required to function throughout the day. However, with the abundance of choices that surround eating and drinking, others may eat and drink for enjoyment of diverse tastes. This leads to the basis of the idea of gluttony, where people over consume the necessary amount of food and drink needed for survival. Nonetheless, if gluttony is defined as just the act of eating, or perhaps even overeating, it should not be considered a moral failing. Although gluttony could be seen as a selfish act that harms others, eating is also a natural instinct, unable to be controlled by individuals. Since the definition of gluttony and its consequences

The Hungry Soul: Eating And The Perfecting Of Our Nature by Leonard Kass is a book that explores the cultural and natural act of eating revealing the numerous aspects of this occurrence, customs, taboos bordering it, rituals, its relation to the universe, and the vast truths on human animal with its huge yearnings. Human nature implies the unique characteristics that humans possess naturally, which include acting, feeling, and thinking. The uniqueness of human nature is derived from the ability of the human body and form to control their instincts by reasoning, differentiate right and wrong through their conscience, have a complex communication and language systems, use the brain in complex ways to manipulate the surroundings, be futuristic,

Scientifically, you should not make long-term decisions while hungry. Students at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden studied if it is smart to make a decision when you are ravenous. A hormone that is made in the gastrointestinal tract, called ghrelin enhanced their study. Ghrelin is released when your body is searching for food as energy. When you are no longer hungry, the manufacturing of ghrelin halts. Ghrelin is also associated with drug and alcohol intake. The researchers at the University of Gothenburg examined rats. Yes, rats are not humans, but they can display human-like behaviors. When an extra amount of ghrelin was inserted into the rat, they would go against their regular impulses to gain a quick amount of sugar instead of waiting a little bit longer for a larger, more substantial prize. A very much known phrase is you should never go food shopping while you are hungry. We all have

In the article, “How the Food Makers Captured Our Brains,” by Tara Parker-Pope, the author shows that if you see a food that you like you’re going to be tempted to get it even though you're not hungry or full. She wrote the story about Dr. David A. Kessler from The Food and Drug Administration. He talked about how the chocolate chip cookies were made and how everyone would eat it. He bought cookies and put them on the table he just sat there and stared at the cookies. He didn’t understand why people loved them too much.

“Hello group – My name is Heather Zearfoss and we will start today’s session with just a few quick key points on the effect of food on our lives. I am going to try and keep this as simple as possible so that everyone understands why exactly you are even hungry and why your body needs food. This will be important in understanding the role of it in your own life. First, let me start off by saying, everyone looks at food differently; however, many of you do not know why

There are two theories on why we get hungry; these theories are called the Set or Settling Point theory, and the other is the Positive – Incentive theory. The Set or Settling theory differs a bit in the point of optimal weight (or fat/energy level) however the basic idea is the same. In this theory everyone has a set point (or an equilibrium) where the body is using the stored energy, and if the body is above this point then it does not become hungry if it is below the set point the body is lacking

Konnikova starts her deliberations by pointing out that, “Being genuinely hungry … in the sense of physiologically needing food—matters little.” We can feel full after a meal, but receptors from the outside, like smelling, seeing, reading or even thinking about food can make us feel hungry again. We can all associate with that feeling when we want to eat something, and it’s not because we’re hungry, but because we want to. It has nothing to do with a need of our body. The author clarifies that, “Recent studies show that our physical level of hunger, in fact, does not correlate strongly with how much hunger we say that we feel or how much food

Hunger is a constant, everchanging human trait. Although it is almost always associated in the context of food, the characteristic of hunger can also relate to the craving of a certain aspect of life. When one hungers, whether for an aspect or for food, they will search for a method to quench their feelings of that certain hunger. Although this is not necessarily a negative outcome, for hunger can work to motivate and drive a person to an overall goal, a growing uncontrolled and unnoticed hunger can be very dangerous. If a person is unable or unwilling to reach their goal, they obliviously allow hunger to grow inside of them, causing them to commit vast and rash actions at an attempt to obtain the specific

This paper is about the book “Mindless Eating” by Brian Wansink. This paper will contain a coversheet, an abstract, a discussion about the book, and a reference page. In this paper I will discuss several things. I will talk about the author and his research into eating and eating habits, the surprises that I had when reading about his research and the contents of the book, a discussion about what intrigued me, who I would recommend this book too, and whether or not reading this book may change the way I eat.

In a report written by food scientist Steven Witherly, PhD ‘Why Humans Like Junk Food’ (2) the science of food addiction is explained thus.

Now, in 2015, the number of searches and available information increased from ~334,000 hits to ~32, 200, 00 hits. The idea that food has similar addictive characteristics as drugs that affect the brain is quite controversial. People tend to eat when they are depressed, happy, emotional, celebrating and many other situations because food is easily accessed and not illegal. Research regarding sugar having addictive qualities was conducted in 2010 by the University of Texas and the Oregon Research Institute. Equipped with Haagen-Dazs ice cream and a group of overweight women, the researchers measured the brains reward center activity when shown images of ice cream and when tasting an ice cream milk shake; six months down the road, the group reconvened and the women once again tasted the ice cream. The results were that the woman who had gained weight over the time gap had decreased activity in the striatum, an area of the brain that registers reward, thus needing more to reach a feel good level of satisfaction (Langreth & Stanford, 2011). "The significance of this finding is that these are the same regions of the brain that light up in drug addicts who are show images of drug paraphernalia or drugs" (Wormer & Davis, 2013).

Lang, Greenwald, Bradley, Hamm, 1993; P. Lang, Bradley, & Cuthbert, 1997). The general goal of appetitive motivational activation is information intake in the pursuit of opportunities for biological success (A. Lang, 2006). Thus, it comes as no surprise that food stimuli are detected and recognized faster during visual search tasks, remembered better, and produce stronger hedonic reactions (Harrar, Toepel, Murray, & Spence, 2011; Morris & Dolan, 2001; Stoeckel, Cox, Cook, & Weller, 2007). However, food of different types may not always create uniform increases in appetitive response and activation. Studies have shown that appetitive responses are modulated by personality characteristics, behavioral traits, physiological traits, nutritional content, and advertising efforts (Bailey, 2015; Harris, Bargh, & Brownell, 2009; Lawrence, Hinton, Parkinson, & Lawrence, 2012; Marchiori, Corneille, & Klein, 2012; Martin, Coulon, Markward, Greenway, & Anton, 2009; van Strien, Herman, Anschutz, 2012).

It is probable that most people think about food than any other thing throughout their life time. It is funny to realize that even some people think about the next meal while they are having their current meal. Fresh fleshy fruit can stimulate a craving for food even when a person is on a full stomach. It is true that people and all living things require nutrition to survive. However, some eating cravings are just not normal. This is due to various hunger simulation reasons. The motivation to eat is propagated by more than just the need for body nourishment. The hunger motivation influences are, thus, either internal or external.

Ramifications of obesity have been long recognized by health care professions, but there is no clinically recognized definition of food addiction. Mental health researchers at Yale University applied traditional criteria for substance abuse to eating and obesity and found striking similarities (Liebman, 2012). There remains considerable debate about classifying nonsubstance addictions, with some mental health professionals suggesting that these are behavioral disorders rather than disorders with neurobiological causes.

Eating is a very important aspect in life in order for survival. During childhood children are exposed to various food which begins to develop their eating behaviour. Different factors such as environmental and physiological variables affect a child 's eating behaviour, however this essay is focused on parental feeding practises. “Parental feeding practices refer to the behaviours of parents that influence children 's eating, whilst increasing their child 's intake of 'healthy ' food” (Ventura & Birch, 2008, p.1, as cited in Gregory, Paxton & Brozovic, 2010). It is suggested of feeding practices can hinder the development of self-control in children (Birch et al, 2001). Therefore development is being explored through the notion of modelling and pressure to eat implemented in childhood, as it may be suggested that eating habits found in adults are a reflection of childhood eating behaviours.