Psychology of eating Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Psychology of eating - Term Paper Example In other cases, we tend to repent after having consumed a heavy meal, which affects our moods and declines our efficiency in the daily life activities. There is dire need to examine the psychology of eating in order to identify ways in which we can control our food intake, and maintain our good looks, and attitude towards food, which is the fundamental source of energy for us. Driving factors for eating behavior: Booth (1994, p. 1) has presented the psychological definitions of food and drink. According to Booth (1994, p. 1), food is anything that is edible and drink is anything that humans consider potable. In order to understand the psychology of food, understanding of the factors the drive hunger and thirst is important. According to Cleveland Clinic (2005), experts have expressed that factors that influence our attitudes towards food include, but are not limited to cultural, social, individual, evolutionary and familial factors. In certain cultures, food is fundamentally consider ed as a source of pleasure and eating is thought of as a good pastime. There are also cultures which take food as a necessity for survival, but do not consider eating for pleasure a good idea. Likewise, there are other social and personal factors that shape an individual’s attitude towards food. ... 5). Negative psychological effects of poor eating habits: We should be able to control our eating habits instead of letting our eating habits control us in order to maintain positive attitudes towards food and ensure the consumption of healthy diet. We normally take food as a means to regulate our tensions and feel good at least for the portion of time, in which we are eating. If we loose to our timeless and unnecessary cravings and eating temptations, we may in fact end up increasing our tensions. This may happen because the underlying cause of tensions is often not related to the food, yet food is consumed as a means to regulate the tension. This is the same as taking wrong medication to cure a disease that actually requires some other treatment. In such cases, not only does the original disease sustains, but also we acquire negative side effects of undue treatment. In the case of food, this shows up in the form of obesity and ruined looks. Thus, consuming food to regulate tensions not only sustains the original cause of tension, but adds to it by making us feel physically unfit. Overeating makes us feel negative about our self image as we gain weight, and add unnecessary volume to our figure. Human psychology and weight management: Psychology is a field of science that essentially depicts the reasons people indulge in certain activities or display certain behaviors and offers a rationale for the way people do it. Weight management requires deep understanding of the psychology of eating, which can best be explained by two core areas: Behavior: Regulating eating habits requires manipulation of behavior. Behavior can be treated through study of the patterns of eating an individual routinely maintains. Cognition: Human cognition can be controlled with