101: purpose of food

In a few latest conversations I kept repeating that, until I heard myself that this is important. When you use the food as intended, according to its purpose, there are no issues with either weight or health.

That means not confusing the reasons of consuming the food with consequences of consuming the food. Not ignoring the fact that we use food to solve the issues that it cannot solve.

By common agreement, the purpose of food is to provide body with the building materials for new, depleted and restored tissues, to provide energy for movement and activity of all organs. It is rather strange, but I cannot find the references to the academic sources. When questions are so important - it suddenly appears that we do not have textbooks or definitions, and we need to rely on the common sense (which, unfortunately is not so common. We all have it, but we, unfortunately, do not use it frequently enough...). Unless, perhaps, here? (1). Purpose of food does not include things like providing pleasure, creating and expressing feelings, helping to deal with boredom. The food is definitely used for these purposes, but then again, a bowl of vegetable soup that helps a healing person to get up from the bed should not be confused with a bof of white chocolates which allows a shy admirer to express the feelings without words. Chocolates are not food, chocolates is a pleasure inducing substance - same as alcohol, nicotine or other drugs - and of similar nutritional value (also comparable to their damage in the long run). With a similar level of success one could consume wet paper and state that full stomach means that you consumed some food. No. Paper, drugs or chocolates cannot be considered food, because they do not fulfil the primary purpose of the food - to provide body with building materials and energy.

Unlike an often shared statement, body also (most often) does not require sugar as a source of energy. Body has at least three different very reliable ways to produce energy from any kind of food - as much as it needs. You should not think that you know better than your own body does how the heart should beat or how the lungs should breathe. You should also not believe that you know better than your body how much energy it needs and where to get it. Yes, body does require carbohydrates - but definitely not chocolates. Body needs grains, vegetables, fruit - products that contain carbohydrates (complex, not simple ones as in chocolates), also fiber, vitamins, minerals - which are not present in chocolates. No. Chocolates contain nothing of what you _need_. Chocolates contain plenty of of things that you _want_, but the wish is the same as wish to smoke or get high. I know that this sounds scary - but if chocolate does not turn you into a ghost with dark circles under your eyes, does not mean that it is valuable nutrition. A lot of overweight, diabetic, allergic people, people with sleep problems, eating disorders and a whole rainbow of issues that follow them is a living proof that it is important whether you pay attention to how you use the food, according to its purpose or not.

So please do not call coffee with pastry a breakfast, because you still have not had the breakfast. You did not consume the food that your body requires. Do not say that your child has eaten after he had chips and regular juice after he refused soup or meat with vegetables, because his brain is tricked into believing this was food, and his brain believes he does not need real food, but all this time his body does not get the proteins, carbohydrates and fats it needs for growth. No, it is not OK to have healthy food only sometimes, while every day you will have what is "handy" or "what you have time for", because then you are in reality fasting (by the way, fasting body tends to hold on to high energy resources in form of fat, and really dislikes to give them up. Because who knows how long the hunger will last??). Processed food and other food that does not turn bad is barely more nutritional than paper. Healthy and nutritious food must be tasty, and not the other way around - tasty food does not mean it is healthy and nutritious.

Bon appetit. Eat to deal with your hunger, and use your mind to deal with emotional problems. The weather is nice outside. Walk outside in a sunny forest or even on a sunny sidewalk will work miracles!

Several supporting articles :)

https://www.weight-lifting-complete.com/purpose-of-food/

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/cathy-erway/food-deserts-health_b_1125147.html

https://www.mochimag.com/article/eating-with-a-purpose-the-best-foods-for-any-mood/

https://youtu.be/JuqC4RZ9l7U

https://www.multiplyperformance.com/blog/purpose-food

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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food

My name is Monika, I am health and nutrition psychologist. I help to deal with daily and difficult questions about behavior, thinking, emotions. I write, teach and provide psychological counselling. Book my session here: https://fb.com/book/saukstasproto/ ||| Become Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/saukstasproto

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