Food history and culture; fitness food and gastro-anomic culture

The history of food is intertwined with the history of humanity.

Food is health, ensuring the survival, performance and conservation of species, in addition to playing an important role in the construction of culture, in the joy of eating together and in the pleasure of being able to savor our favorite foods.

For us humans, the act of eating, during the evolution of our species, has increasingly acquired a dual purpose: feeding the body and the soul.

In Food as Culture, we can read that the use of fire and cooking practices serve to make food better not only from the point of view of flavor, but also of safety and health.

This simple gesture certainly had, from the beginning, the objective of making food more hygienic, as well as more porcelain.

Thus, we understand that the bond between Man and food became even stronger after the discovery of fire, which added different flavors and textures to what was consumed.

From the moment we acquired knowledge about growing grains, vegetables and fruits, human creativity contributed to the development of culinary activity and food culture.

It was then understood that food, in addition to satisfying hunger, was also a precious source of pleasure.

Food and its place in history

Today, there is an obsession with the history of the table, which has led gastronomy to move beyond the kitchen and become an object of study with due attention to the imaginary, the symbolic, representations and the various forms of active sociability.

In this sense, the issue of food should be at the center of historians' attention and reflections on the evolution of society, since History is the discipline that offers fundamental support and projects perspectives.

Local, regional, national and international cuisines are products of cultural miscegenation, making cuisines reveal traces of cultural exchanges.

Today, studies on food and nutrition are invading the human sciences, based on the premise that the formation of food tastes is not exclusively due to its nutritional or biological aspect.

Food constitutes a historical category, since the patterns of permanence and changes in eating habits and practices have references in social dynamics themselves.

Food is not just food.

Eating is a nutritional act, and eating is a social act, as it involves attitudes, linked to customs, protocols, conduct and situations.

No food that enters our mouths is neutral. The historicity of gastronomic sensitivity explains and is explained by cultural and social manifestations, as a mirror of an era and that marked an era.

In this sense, what we eat is as important as when we eat, where we eat, how we eat and with whom we eat.

Food history and culture

In previous texts, the issue of junk food in Brazil was addressed, but it was left open to talk about the trend that has been growing in the country and that has an opposite target audience and that also needs a serious discussion, mainly due to its impact on both physical and psychological health.

Today we are going to talk about the gastro-anomic culture, the trend of food culture that came to the country aligned with a fitness lifestyle (exercise that reflects a healthy lifestyle).

With this text, I hope that we can reflect more responsibly on the dietary choices we make at certain moments in our lives, but not to say that there is a lifestyle that is more correct than another, because this is each person's responsibility, right?

The gastro-anomic cultural trend emerged because of the increased flow of information about the healthy lifestyle and the harm caused by irresponsible eating, as well as a sedentary lifestyle, generally with an emphasis on the body and its complete performance in the most varied ways, including through stimuli such as food.

Have you ever thought about how gymnasts and people on diets tend to treat food in a completely different way than their friends or family do?

That is exactly what gastro-anomie studies are about.

The term was coined by Claude Fischler as a neologism with the words gastronomy and anomie, which indicates the complete lack of knowledge on the part of people due to the breakdown of traditions that once gave some sense of order about food and its effects.

Today, in the popular view, there is no way to know whether something is bad or not by traditional means (is an egg good or bad today?

What about tomorrow?). The fragmentation of individualisms and social groups due to globalization processes has had the indirect effect of increasing gastro-anomie in many different forms throughout the world.

As it is a trans-cultural phenomenon (it emerged at the same time in more than one culture) and a global phenomenon, it is not possible to estimate where and when the trend emerged with greater force, however the lifestyle of those who perform physical activities is always accompanied by the modern benefits of globalization, as observed in democratic, free countries, without gender discrimination and with sufficient structure for the opening of commercial establishments such as gyms.

Modernity presents us with an interesting paradox: we have never known so much about the effects of food on the body and, in the same way, we have never had so many problems related to food as we do now (ignorance is not always a blessing, it is always good to remember).

Excessive information, instead of helping, seems to hinder the choice of diets and goals.

The way in which scientific research has treated fat and sugar, sometimes as heroes, sometimes as villains, reflects some of the misinformation that reaches the average person.

In this new context, flexible and thin bodies, or those with extremely swollen muscles, seem to represent the most accepted standard of beauty and, therefore, the most sought after in the most diverse ways.

Gastro-anomic culture aims to give new meaning to local and global cuisines no longer in their hedonic (flavor), tourist or historiographic effects, but now in their effects on their greatest tool for interacting with the world, their own body.

Foods that were once accepted for their flavor, such as feijoada, fried chicken, French toast and French fries, are now considered sinful and forbidden.

The lightening of food was an industrial phenomenon that reflected this movement.

With the reduction in the amount of calories, fats, sugar and salt, foods that were previously considered sinful are more accepted by a large portion of fitness enthusiasts, who seek pure and light foods for their meals, rich in fiber, omega 6, 3, 9, water and fat-soluble vitamins, gluten-free and macrominerals, with the adoption of technical-scientific jargon to justify aesthetic and behavioral changes.

The redefinition of preparations, such as removing pork fat from feijoada and second-class meat from barreado; of foods, such as tapioca and whole grains, are responsible for changing the eating lifestyle, more suited to the exercises that are practiced by the same people.

The almost religious connotation of how a gymnast can treat his body is also perceived by Lígia, for whom the cult of the body is seen as a reflection of exacerbated modern anthropocentrism.

The triad of the body, eating and food, as the author reveals, implies discussions of deviations from the norm, giving rise to anorexia or obesity as the most defective states, as they do not portray the perfect body (a utopian state always sought in the cult).

The author also reflects on how the new paradigms of food security may be influencing new behaviors, due to the effect of news such as bird flu, swine flu and transgenic monoculture and their environmental effects.

What should we do when we do not have a minimum guarantee of the quality of our most basic foods?

The way some healthy lifestyle practitioners try to change their lives and the lives of those close to them (sometimes in an exaggerated way) can, instead of helping, hinder their well-being, causing anxiety, worsening depression, bulimia, kidney dysfunction, hormonal problems and other psychopathologies, as well reported in Lígia's book.

As a messianic religion, fitness gains points by convincing someone about the importance of its lifestyle and by condemning other lifestyles and diets.

It is not known when the new food culture will be in harmony with the local culture, in a state of cultural hybridization.

Some authors reinforce the thesis that the natural tendency of these habits will be the extinction or complete submission of local gastronomy to gastro-anomic values.

The extremisms represented by César Sabino are perceived by the dietary supplements used by regular gym-goers, with the use of creatine and albumin pills sold in specialized stores, instead of regular meals.

The radicalism is an aspect seen both in intensive bodybuilding gyms, fitness and within the bodybuilder group, with some group representatives consuming 9,000 kcal/day and with adiposity rates of 2% to 5%, while an average person has a calorie diet of 2,000 to 2,500 kcal/day and an adiposity rate (body fat) of 18% for men.

The author also reinforces the cult-like view demonstrated earlier, in which foods can, according to his view, be considered sacred, such as white meat (poultry and fish) because they do not contain much fat, and fats and viscous meats such as pork are seen as villains and impure for good physical performance, with mocking comments such as pork rinds for overweight men who frequent the gym, according to the source.

Like many other phenomena of globalization, the main space for the propagation of ideas and discussions is the internet.

The fitness language has opened up a very large space in different types of media, creating an audience focused on the consumption of so-called gastronomy, according to Helena Jacob.

The lightening of diets was an industrial phenomenon that reflected this movement.

With the reduction in the amount of calories, fats, sugar and salt, foods previously considered sinful are more accepted by a large portion of fitness enthusiasts, who seek pure and light foods for their meals, rich in fiber, omega 6, 3, 9, water and fat-soluble vitamins, gluten-free and macrominerals, with the adoption of technical and scientific jargon to justify aesthetic and behavioral changes.

The redefinition of preparations, such as removing pork fat from feijoada and second-class meat from barreado; of foods, such as tapioca and whole grains, are responsible for changing the eating lifestyle, more suited to the exercises that are practiced by these same people.

The almost religious connotation of how gymnasts can treat their bodies is also perceived by Lígia, for whom the cult of the body is seen as a reflection of exacerbated modern anthropocentrism.

The triad of the body, eating and food, as the author reveals, involves discussions of deviations from the norm, giving rise to anorexia or obesity as the most defective states, as they do not portray the perfect body (a utopian state always sought in the cult).

The author also reflects on how the new paradigms of food security may be influencing new behaviors, due to the effect of news such as bird flu, swine flu and transgenic monoculture and their environmental effects.

What should we do when we do not have a minimum guarantee of the quality of our most basic foods?

The way in which some healthy lifestyle practitioners try to change their lives and those of people close to them (sometimes in an exaggerated way) can, instead of helping, hinder their well-being, causing anxiety, increasing cases of depression, bulimia, kidney dysfunction, hormonal problems and other psychopathologies, as well reported in Lígia's book.

As a messianic religion, fitness gains points by convincing someone about the importance of their lifestyle and by condemning other lifestyles and diets.

It is not known when the new food culture will be in harmony with the local culture, in a state of cultural hybridization.

Some authors reinforce the thesis that the natural tendency of these habits will be the extinction or complete submission of local gastronomy by gastro-anomic values.

The extremisms represented by César Sabino are perceived by the food supplementation of assiduous gym-goers, with the use of creatine and albumin pills sold in specialized stores, instead of regular meals.

Radicalism is an aspect seen both in intensive bodybuilding gyms, fitness centers and within the bodybuilder group, with some group representatives consuming 9,000 kcal/day and with adiposity rates of 2% to 5%, while an average person has a calorie diet of 2,000 to 2,500 kcal/day and an adiposity rate (body fat) of 18% for men.

The author also reinforces the cult vision demonstrated earlier, in which foods can, according to his view, be considered sacred, such as white meat (poultry and fish) because they do not contain much fat, and fats and viscous meats such as pork are seen as villains and impure for good body performance, with mocking comments such as pork rinds for overweight men who frequent the gym, according to the source.

Like many other phenomena of globalization, the main space for the propagation of ideas and discussions is the internet.

Fitness language has opened up a huge space in different types of media, creating an audience focused on the consumption of so-called gastronomy media, according to Helena Jacob.

The author also reinforces the patterns in which discourses on both the fitness body and fitness food can spread through online media (especially social networks).

The images usually contain motivating hashtags (#focus, #strength, #faith, etc.), photos showing meals (appetizing or not, this point makes no difference), before and after photos (when the differences are well perceived) and sensual photos, most of the time decontextualized and with poems and loose phrases.

It's a very different scenario from the magazines with famous actresses in bikinis from the 90s, isn't it?

The group is very flexible when it comes to the propagation space, despite the light industry not being able to keep up with new trends so quickly.

The use of scientific terms in these media is encouraged so that the effect of the message is enhanced, even if the information conveyed is incomplete or false.

Claude Fischler, the sociologist who coined the term gastro-anomie in 1979, tells us in an interview that the process of individualization by which we lose the syntax with which we write the implicit rules of the act of eating has led to the loss of complex and elaborate codes through which communities have created history (comparisons between food and language are not lacking in Fischler's work).

It is as if the act of eating were a kind of language through which we document our history.

By reducing food to just its atomic and nutrient levels, we are unable to keep up with the emergence of codes regarding table manners, cuisines, rules about dishes, what to order first, what to order as a main course, what to order for dessert, how to eat, what goes with what, what doesn't, what to drink, etc.

Excess information is once again raised as the most important cause of psychopathologies, since a food, such as chocolate, simultaneously occupies the role of hero for one thing and evil villain for another.

The responsibility of the individual for what they put in their mouth is the maxim of this movement (since, after all, we are what we eat).

The balance between the hygienic, identity, hedonistic and aesthetic aspects needs more attention from each individual, so that we are not so susceptible to gastronomic propaganda and know how to behave with the information passed on in the most different forms in the gastronomic media.

?