You Are What You Eat: To What Extent Is This True? Essay

Introduction

Consumed food affects people’s health and life activity as bodies receive different vitamins and nutritional elements. In some parts of the world, the deficit of specific vitamins can appear due to the lack of sun or the unpopularity of seafood. According to Cashman, a huge amount of ultraviolet synthesizes vitamin D in skin¹. To ensure the full capacity of this component, people should constantly live in locations where the number of sunny days exceeds rainy days. People who do not have access to these locations should consume more products like salmon, cod liver, and tuna to increase the amount of needed vitamin D. Hair loss and weak bones can be the direct indicators of what people eat². The general body appearance can signal the early steps of avitaminosis.

Chemical Aspect

People should pay more attention to the composition of chemical elements in their dishes. The perception of food can vary depending on the location and the general atmosphere. For example, Spence stated that different chemical processes happen when people eat at home and in restaurants³. Chemical element splitting affects the level of generated endorphins, and during the day out in a specific food place, people may experience more happiness from the consumed food⁴. Endorphins retrieved from food can help people to cope with stress and look more attractive.

Obesity

Lack of attention paid to the type of food and balance of products can cause health problems like obesity. Daily consumption of fatty food approves the statement “you are what you eat,” as skin problems and critical body mass are direct and visible indicators of the issue. In the early stage of obesity development, the changes in the general appearance might not be clear, but the shifts in the body mass index (BMI) are significant⁵. People with these health problems start losing interest in physical activities and dive into depression⁶. In this case, the skin might become pale and the facial expressions can be less bright.

Food Consumption Case Study

The influence of the surroundings builds eating habits and the general attitude to food. Timmermans et al. conducted a study where they found out that children in The Netherlands influence their peers to buy unhealthy food as it makes them cooler around others⁷. Children and teenagers build their food perception by observing parents and friends. However, due to the fact that most of the time is spent at school, other children have a greater impact on eating habits. This issue has caused 15.6% of obesity around children in The Netherlands⁸. The parents’ attention to what their children eat at school helps protect a relatively high health level and ensure that food positively influences how young people look in society.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the food people indeed consume depends on their appearance and mental condition. This happens because some people might receive more vitamins from specific products and look better, but others are required to consume more to stay in the same condition. Moreover, the habits taken from childhood greatly influence the relationship to food and its importance in looking attractive and healthy.

References

Cashman, K. D., “Vitamin D deficiency: Defining, prevalence, causes, and strategies of addressing”, Calcified Tissue International 106 (2020): 14-29. Web.

Chooi, Y. C., Ding, C. and Magkos, F., “The epidemiology of obesity”, Metabolism 92 (2019): 6-10. Web.

Higgs, S. and Ruddock, H., “Social influences on eating”, Handbook of Eating and Drinking (2020): 277-291. Web.

Spence, Charles. Gastrophysics: The new science of eating. Penguin UK, 2017.

Timmermans, J., Dijkstra, C. and Kamphuis, C., “’Obesogenic’ school food environments? An urban case study in The Netherlands”, IJERPH 15:4 (2018): 619. Web.

Zmora, N., Suez, J. and Elinav, E., “You are what you eat: Diet, health and the gut microbiota”, Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology 16 (2019): 35-56. Web.

Footnotes

1. Cashman, K. D., “Vitamin D deficiency: Defining, prevalence, causes, and strategies of addressing”, Calcified Tissue International 106 (2020): 14.
2. Cashman, K. D., “Vitamin D deficiency: Defining, prevalence, causes, and strategies of addressing”, Calcified Tissue International 106 (2020): 15.
3. Spence, Charles. Gastrophysics: The new science of eating. Penguin UK, 2017.
4. Zmora, N., Suez, J. and Elinav, E., “You are what you eat: Diet, health and the gut microbiota”, Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology 16 (2019): 37.
5. Chooi, Y. C., Ding, C. and Magkos, F., “The epidemiology of obesity”, Metabolism 92 (2019): 6.
6. Higgs, S. and Ruddock, H., “Social influences on eating”, Handbook of Eating and Drinking (2020): 278.
7. Timmermans, J., Dijkstra, C. and Kamphuis, C., “’Obesogenic’ school food environments? An urban case study in The Netherlands”, IJERPH 15:4 (2018): 619.
8. Timmermans, J., Dijkstra, C. and Kamphuis, C., “’Obesogenic’ school food environments? An urban case study in The Netherlands”, IJERPH 15:4 (2018): 619.