You may be thinking if your body is so good at defending your set point, how did your set point become too high? Ultimately, your behavior—how you respond to the environment—trumps your physiology, or your body’s inner workings. Eating is complex behavior that is affected by many different factors, including genetics. How food tastes, how hungry we feel, and even how we respond to social cues around food (for example, whether we eat more at a party or while alone) are all affected by our genes. And these genetic differences affect how we respond to our environment. Over the past few decades, changes in our society have altered our environment dramatically. Oversized portions of high-calorie (and often inexpensive) foods are readily available, day and night. And modern conveniences—everything from electric toothbrushes to leaf blowers to cars—mean we don’t have as many opportunities to exercise. These and other factors, which are detailed in the next chapter, are the driving forces behind our rising set points.
On a fundamental level, we eat to survive. Leptin and other hormones regulate this unconscious drive. But we also have a conscious desire to eat, which is clearly affected by the smell, taste, and appearance of foods. Your emotional state also comes into play. Some people eat more (or less) when they’re upset, angry, or depressed (For more on breaking these patterns, see Chapter 9). We also eat out of habit, simply because it’s time for lunch (or a snack or dinner) or because people around us are eating. As in most cultures, Americans often plan their work and social schedules around eating rituals.
Source: George L. Blackburn, M.D., Ph.D., "Break Through Your Set Point: How to Finally Lose the Weight You Want and Keep It Off," 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment