I was spouting off my opinion the other day and my friend Peter called bullshit. He said we are fat but NOT lazy. We are stressed which causes the fat, I forget the reason bad digestion maybe? Yes I had a beer during this conversation, why do you ask? I asked what do we have to be stressed about? And my husband jumped in a laid a bunch of things out there, work(too much-too little- low pay-no vacation) money, wars, facebook (HA!), food, travel,environment..... It made me wonder was Peter right? Is stress causing the ilk I see in the world?
- does it cause people to shop to fill a void? spending more than they can afford to make themselves feel better?
- eating a poor diet because they can easily eat a burger on a long car drive rather than a bowl of hot soup from home?
- are two parents working to afford to survive, causing stress on the family so shortcuts are taken IE cheap ready made food, dvd players in cars so the kids are quiet on the commute to daycare, daycare itself
- are we so exhausted form running ourselves to death to make it all work that when we have free time it feels good to lose ourselves in tv?
I still contend that the foods marketed to us, all of us, is unhealthy. The food we can all afford is cheap, over processed and bad for you. I don't think I can budge on that one.
I don't know if he's right and I'm wrong or vice versa but he sure did make me think. For days. Thanks Peter!
Thoughts?
Peace and Love-
5 comments, thoughts, ideas, random words or haikus:
Don't forget a system by which children are taught to be passive compliant learners of nothing practical or connected to daily life so that they can have jobs in which they produce nothing tangible or needful. Maybe we could replace dodge ball with gardening and test prep time with meal prep time in schools.
Or debt. Debt is a massive stressor.
Stress leads to endocrine disruption. So does pesticide and toxin exposure (which are also being implicated in the spike in mental illness and developmental disorders!). Endocrine disruption contributes to being fat and depressed too.
Advertising is depressing. It's very nature is to make one feel incomplete without the product being pedaled. Yet when the product is purchased, one is no more complete! So you're depressed if you get it and you're anxious or depressed if you don't. And what do depressed people do? Eat! usually food that makes them fatter and more depressed.
It is a vicious cycle. and it sucks.
Laura,
The reason that I floated was that our bodies interpret stress as a precursor to starvation. There's coincidental data out there such as mothers that have stressful pregnancies give birth to babies that have a higher probability of being obese later in life. This is all highly correlative data but it seems to point to some sort of relationship between stress and obesity.
Switching gears: I think you're right about food. Especially processed food. Food products is what I think Michael Pollen calls them.
What I'm curious about is this, we've lost our prior relationship with food when we pre-packaged bread started showing up on the shelves and it's been a race to the bottom since. We can try to redirect ourselves to regain this relationship with food; however, the sinister question remains: what drives us away from our relationship with earth? What compels us to create an arid existence where the world is abstracted away from us? It's not just food, it's industry, it's art, it's the internet. It's a terrifying question.
Actually what happens is that when we are stressed our bodies produce cortisol - that is part of our central nervous systems "fight or flight" response - which would be really useful if you had to run away from a sabre-toothed tiger. However, since in our modern day lives, since we don't have to do that our bodies convert that cortisol that it can't use into fat. There is now a great deal of evidence that finding some deep relaxation through something like yoga or meditation can actually lead to weight loss.
Sue
Couscous & Consciousness
Peter, that terrifying question is a good one. I think the thrust of my blog is better food through better living AND better living htrough better food. They are a cycle- we live better we feel better we eat better we live better. The more compassionate we are for the world around us the more we can stand up for what's right and that comes from caring deeply about the plants and animals we consume, the places we live the relationships we carry on. Not only in our own families but we can reach out to those around us and join together.
Sue-yes I have been doing some research now on stress, I think that's right idea. I'm also bothered by the word cortisol because of the get skinny ads on tv mentioning cortisol, I have to get over that! I really need to practice yoga more often...or in the case of this summer AT ALL. Thanks for visiting! Couscous and Consciousness is a great name!
Stephanie-DEBT is a massive stressor, in most peoples lives.
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