Does Diet Behavior
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“DOES DIET AFFECT BEHAVIOR”
Since it is quite unfair to comprehend and analyze a field as vast as human behavior and nutrition within the confines of the space available here. In this paper we will specifically analyze dietary effects on certain aspects of behavior treating them as fair sample parameters in predicting and establishing an inextricable link between the vast fields of diet and human behavior. Mention here–sub fields
For human beings, eating has never been a simple matter. To a frog snagging a fly or a pelican nabbing a fish, food is fuel and nothing more. To a human, the ritual of eating–the act of pulling up and tucking in, of passing around and helping oneself–is one of the most primal of shared activities. We eat together when we celebrate, and we eat together when we grieve; we eat together when a loved one is preparing to leave, and we eat together when the loved one returns. We solve our problems over the family dinner table, conduct our business over the executive lunch table, entertain guests over cake and cookies at the coffee table. “Interaction over food is the single most important feature of socializing,” says Sidney Mintz, professor of anthropology at Johns Hopkins University. “The food becomes the carriage that conveys feelings back and forth.” Thus we see that concepts of food, diet, nutrition call it what you may, are inextricably linked not only to our physical sth but also fosters a tangible connection with our day to day interaction, hence the claim to a correlation between the diet we take in and our behavior, be that in a social environment or one that exists intrinsically. Take a day when one doesnt eat anything, do you feel that not having eaten anything affects the way one functions at the workplace, or maybe hinders concentration in the classroom. This is but a commonplace indicator of our behavior being inextricably linked to our diet. Another thing that factors in this discussion is the role of diet on anti social behavior. In a recently published news article in an Irish daily The Belfast News Letter the author traces the patent link between antisocial behavior amongst violent street gangs in Ireland to their dietary intake. The author believes that the violent-infused behavior of the members of such groups can be influenced by the fact that they lived on diets of junk food with low nutritional content, excess caffeine and all the wrong fats. He further goes on to state that diets can cause swings in blood sugar levels, which can trigger aggressive behavior, while food additives and food intolerance can also cause aggression. In addition to the Irish authors findings, his claim was given credibility on the basis of a research conducted in conjunction with the Exeter police force in Dublin, where the researcher found that giving disruptive hooligans a simple multimineral/vitamin supplement helped in reducing the rate of re-offence. In another study conducted by the Scottish Government, Tory MSP Margaret Mitchell, the Conservatives deputy justice spokesperson; had been urged by the government to investigate whether food served to kids in secure units affected their behaviour. Upon conducting a joint examination with researchers at the University of South Carolina, Mitchell claimed that improving the diet of the juvenile offenders might stop them from re-offending. The researchers, she claimed, had found that a lack of zinc, iron, vitamin B and protein in the first three years caused bad behaviour later on in life, stating that Poor nutrition leads to low IQ, which leads to later anti-social behaviour.
Moving on, it is quite imperative when engaging in a discussion on dietary affects on behavior to analyze the role of diet and its components on human physiological behavior. We will analyze this premise using the relative roles and nuances of the two most extreme dietary-behavioral disorders, those being the conditions of obesity and anorexia as case studies.. Studying the range of extremity that these disorders lie in enables the observer to gain an insight on the link between human behavior and diet, one that assess the role of diet in perpetrating human physiological behavior. Theres no question that some pretty strong social, emotional and behavioral forces play a part in determining what, when and how much we eat. But if you really want to know why some people are fat and others arent, you have to take a good look at biology. Mother Nature simply cant afford to leave anything so important to human survival as eating to the whims of cultural fashion. Ten years after the discovery of the first obesity gene, scientists are only beginning to understand just how hardwired our desire for food–and lots of it–truly is. In a recent article in time magazine Why we eat the author claims that the physiological effects of diet on humans arises from an exquisitely fine-tuned system of chemical and neurological checks and balances that regulate both what we eat and how much our bodies store as fat. The balance to this system in addition to the genetical makeup is unique to every individual hence providing variety in physical form and shape. In determining the causes for obesity, the author notes that eating is inherent to our physiological makeup and that the body revolts against any attempt to curb this, for example when a person (obese or otherwise) tries to lose weight The whole system of chemicals and neurological impulses shifts in an attempt to get the body to burn fewer calories so that it can regain the weight. The greater the weight loss, the stronger the signals to eat more and replenish fat stores. Hence obesity is but a natural mutation of this struggle. On the