Food Choices

Did you know that most people often choose what to eat based on behavioral or social motives?  Taste is obviously involved too but, for the most part, it's not based on how vital nutrition is to one's health.  Basically, food is supposed to be fuel and building blocks for our bodies.  But, we don't really sit around thinking about how our bodies are made up of atoms, molecules, cells, etc., do we? That's what our bodies are and the food we put into our bodies determines how well those small parts work together to make up our physical selves.  Think about this:  your oldest blood cell is only 120 days old and that skin you see gets replaced every 7 years!  That's some major renewals going on in our bodies and to accomplish these and other miracles, we need specific nutrients.  But, what influences people's decisions about what to eat?

There's personal preferences, of course.  Taste!  Flavor!  And what are the two most common preferences? Sugary sweetness (mmm, vegan cupcakes...) and salty savoriness (and some of us want these two at the same time)!  There are other particular personal preferences like spicy, or high-fat (thinking vegan cupcakes again--maybe I should go eat one right now...).  There's also some research out there that hints at genetics having an influence in the tastes a person prefers or dislikes.  I know I've got some friends who absolutely can't stand sugary sweets (I wish I could count myself as one).  I can't particularly stand the flavor of cilantro or celery.

Another influence is habit.  Sometimes this is something that's just been eaten for so long that it has become more habit than anything else.  For example, if you grew up with a hot bowl of oatmeal everyday for your breakfast, and now that's what you still eat daily for breakfast.  It might be that it's just easier to do this than have to think and figure out what to eat for breakfast all the time.  And, if it works, why fix it? Right?  What if it doesn't work?  What if your food habit is two chocolate toaster pastries for breakfast or a Texas size donut with a 16oz cup of coffee with cream & sugar? Sigh. Not so good.

Your ethnic heritage or tradition can also influence the foods you prefer, but I'm sure you knew this one.  You tend to continue eating what you were raised eating.  And the "American diet" is basically a mixture of many ethnic foods from all parts of the world.  I grew up with mostly Portuguese foods but we ordered out or went out to eat a few times a month and it usually was burgers & fries, pizza, or Chinese food.

Social interactions have also a "hand in the cookie jar" when it comes to choosing our foods.  Social events are ALWAYS chock full of foods, usually not of the healthy variety either.  Think about it - Thanksgiving?  Valentine's Day?  How about when you go on a date?  As a woman, I know that most of us are so nervous on a first date that going out to dinner sometimes may not be the best idea and so we choose lighter options (this is completely different after the first few dates and then a whole other ballpark once you're married, just thought I'd share that).

But here are three major hitters in the game of food influencing - Availability, Convenience, & Economy! People want fast and they want it now! Oh, & make it cheaper AND bigger - more bang for the buck!  If you need any evidence of this, go hang out at a fast food restaurant for awhile.  Unfortunately, these are probably the worse of the bunch when it comes to influencing people's food choices.  Even if they decide to prepare their own meals, a lot of people want to be able to fix a whole meal in 15 to 20 minutes, which means choosing unhealthier, corner-cutting options like canned soups or other semi-prepared ingredients.  But here's a question:  a banana or a candy bar?  Both can be carried and eaten on the run, but which would you choose (assuming you even like bananas)?  Hint: one has more vitamins and minerals while the other offers "empty" fat & calories.

Have kids? Have you ever used food as a positive or negative reinforcement for behavior?  Think real carefully about this one.  Personally, I hate to admit it, but I did use this one on my kids...*sad sigh*.  Hot dogs, burgers from the BBQ, grilled corn-on-the-cob, ice cream cones, cotton candy - what do these foods bring to your mind?  They remind me of good times, of going to a carnival, of summer trips to the beach, of hanging out with friends and family.  Were you ever forced to eat something you didn't like when you were a kid because "it's good for you and you're going to eat it!  We're not made of money, you know!"?

Oh my, the other heavy weight in this list is - emotional comfort.  Do you eat when you're: happy? stressed? sad? bored? anxious? lonely? tired? in pain?  We try to fix ourselves with food a lot because, in part, foods can influence the brain's chemistry and the mind's response.  It could be temporary but, nonetheless, that time frame is a pleasant one that sometimes has us going back for more.

People's beliefs and values can also influence their food choices.  Certain religions have food restrictions or strict guidelines.  Some people choose to avoid certain foods based on other things like causes (migrant workers, animals' rights, environment, etc.).

There are a few people who do make their choices based on body weight and image.  The person who wants to be at a specific weight or has a certain image to either attain or maintain might make food decisions to accommodate these goals.

Appropriately, the next influence is nutrition and health benefits. (Yay! Finally! Okay, this is only one of the food influences in my life.)  This is the category of choosing foods that will benefit one's health, such as whole grains, more green leafy vegetables, fruit, etc.

All in all, people choose foods for a variety of reasons and don't just stick to any one category.  No matter the reasons, what we choose to eat influences our health, good or bad.  The balance of foods that we choose over time is what makes an important difference to our health.  Maybe it's time we shifted our minds away from watching so many gourmet food shows and start thinking of food as nutrition again...not art, not a palate of sensual delights...just nutrition.  Ya, I guess that'll happen when certain foods stop tasting so darn good! :D

(Information derived from textbook "Understanding Normal and Clinical Nutrition". This is my way of taking notes :D )

August 29, 2011 - Also, as my good friend, Val, reminded me earlier today, the media also plays a HUGE part in influencing our food choices, don't you think?  Food is everywhere... billboards, TV commercials, magazine ads, in-show ads, etc.

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Today was...

Today was a contemplative day for me. I'm still following my vegan 21-day challenge (Yay for day #16!!) and I'm feeling pretty good but that's not what I was thinking about.

Yesterday I was accused of pushing my new "diet" (we'll talk about that word later) onto people around me. No, wait, I believe the word was "hounding" and not pushing. Nonetheless, this upset me more than I wish to put down here (let's just say that I went to bed angry AND woke up angry AND I'm still pretty ticked-off). I love my family. I love my friends. Now, when I discover new things that just might keep us all alive longer and healthier, I try to make this information available to those that I love. Heck, no use in me hanging around if no one else will be here with me, right? So, ya, maybe I do come across to them as "hounding", "pushing", "nagging", etc. but, is that what I'm doing really? No lies, I do get excited about learning something new. Could my loved ones mistake my excitement as trying to coerce them into eating healthier or to just do things my way? I contemplated this today on the way to my weight-lifting session with my trainer.

Then I started thinking that, on top of all the reading and studying that I do about nutrition and eating habits, I've been watching all the seasons of "The Biggest Loser", back-to-back. I've seen those MRIs on there that show how the fatty tissue congests all the internal organs and pushes them into unnatural positions. I know that bad nutrition and obesity are behind the number one cause of death here in the United States. I get it. But I want everyone near-and-dear to me to also realize it. By-the-way, if you don't know, according to the CDC's 2007 Mortality report, the leading cause of death here is heart disease. Number two is cancer, which I've read some wonderful stories that people completely REVERSED and eliminated cancer by changing their diets to vegan (haven't really looked for research studies on it yet but maybe that's something for next week). But am I "preachy" about it? Am I like a church minister trying to convert a bunch of sinners and knowing it's a hopeless situation, I still keep thumping that bible? Hmmm, maybe.

Well, that drive this morning, paired up with the adrenaline of a near collision, made me think about this in particular: Why do I feel like I need to "fix" everyone around me? To make them healthier? To get them to feel good? Then, it dawned on me - the underlying reason for my, I guess you can call it, obsession with "healing" people. I thought about my life and then it came to me.

Growing up, I had been very close to my godmother/great aunt. When I was 9-10 years old, she had been diagnosed with incurable cancer. She told me, as I perched on her lap and she sat in her favorite rocking chair, that she was very, very sick and that she was going to die. I hugged her and told her "no", that she wouldn't die because I was going to grow up to be a doctor and I would fix her. She laughed a little and said she wished she could wait but she wasn't going to be able to but that she wanted me to still be a doctor and find the cure for cancer. I promised her.

As the months slipped past, I watched that lively woman deteriorate before my eyes as she endured horrible bouts of chemotherapy. I watched as she got sicker and sicker, her hair falling out in clumps and her trying to hide it with a kerchief tied around her head. I remember her having to be kept at the hospital one time and I wasn't allowed to go see her, then she came home - I watched over her and witnessed her fitful sleep with full-out hallucinations from the drugs they were giving her to dull her pain. And, I felt helpless, completely and utterly helpless. Eventually, the pain bled through the drug's power and she was taken again to the hospital, kissing us and telling us "good-bye", looking at us as they backed out of the garage as if she KNEW
she'd never come back and...she never did. I now believe that's why I "push" healthier eating habits because it is the one thing I can control.

See? This isn't just about my adventures with foods and ways of eating healthier. Sometimes my own little psychological self-evaluations may cause someone else to also think about why they do something. Honestly, I never want to see another loved one suffer like that if it can be prevented at all. But, I'm also still hurt that these people I call "loved ones" would turn on me so quickly and easily when I hadn't been hurting them (in fact, they went out of their way to make sure I was suffering their verbal "comical" abuse). It's just so much easier to NOT care...maybe this was to show me where my behavior comes from and to stop fixing everyone else and focus just on me?? I think I can handle that :D


Oh and about the word "diet" - I abhor that word's connotation! Let me just state this once and for all --- my veganism is not a "diet" it is a healthy way of life and it's a choice - it's MY choice because I don't want to wind up at the end of my life having to be hooked up to machines or having to take a boatload of drugs just to keep going. Choose it or don't but don't roll your eyes when I ask waiters about ingredients in my food, got it? Good!