Although they aren't always the most exciting choices, eating healthy foods causes a positive shift in self image and worth because they make a person feel better, look better, and have more energy. Healthy foods are commonly mislabeled as all being "health foods" which can range from pretty normal things to the extreme. According to theWebMD article "Healthy Eating for Weight Loss", the basic elements of a healthy diet consist of Protein (found in fish, meat, poultry, dairy products, eggs, nuts, and beans), Fat (found in animal and dairy products, nuts, and oils), Carbohydrates (found in fruits, vegetables, pasta, rice, grains, beans and other legumes, and sweets), Vitamins (such as vitamins A, B, C, D, E, and K), Minerals (such as calcium, potassium, and iron) and Water. (1)
Self image is based on how one see's themselves in the world. What one eats is directly connected to how they view themselves in the world and how other people generally view them. There are exceptions to this rule, but generally it stands true. If someone has a very unhealthy diet and consistently takes in more energy than they output, they gain weight and generally take on a negative self image. This can have a snowballing effect in some people as they see themselves slipping into a bad habit, and rather than correct the situation, live in denial of it or ignore it until the habit has gotten out of control. This is when food choices have a huge impact on mental health. If a person has avoided a healthy balanced diet in exchange for foods that are high in saturated fat and sugars they are much more at risk for all sorts of health problems, both mental and physical. As stated by Fernando Gómez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery and physiological science at the University of California in "Eat your way to a better brain", "appropriate changes to a person’s diet can enhance his cognitive abilities, protect his brain from damage and counteract the effects of ageing." (1)
The mental health benefits of making good food choices are very clear to see, as is pointed out in the Economist's July 2008 issue's article"Eat your way to a better brain" certain foods "are like pharmaceutical compounds; their effects are so profound that the mental health of entire countries may be linked to them." (1) In America today, we have an on the go lifestyle that stresses food qualities like cost and portability over things like real value and health value. Cheaply produced foods that can be prepared with little effort in little time but are tasty are by far the most popular kinds. This plays right into poor eating habits, because generally these types of foods are either lacking in nutritional quality or are generally unhealthy. A large part of the problem with this scenario is societal, in that we are living in a world of rushes. Rushing from one thing to the next hardly slowing down for meals and the like. This has become a product of the 21st century that we don't really even think about any more. This is one of the true hurdles to overcome with healthy eating and a changing self image of our nation.
The bodies ability to produce energy from poor quality foods is low, and in the case of poor quality foods, the quantity of bad ingredients in them far outweighs the good. This equation has negative effects when we try and use this sort of food as a good source of energy as we eat more to gain more. What is left in the end is more fat and less energy.
Depression can have strong food ties, and some foods can act as an anti depressant all on their own. As stated by "Eat your way to a better brain" there is a strong negative correlation between the extent to which a country consumes fish and its levels of clinical depression. On the Japanese island of Okinawa, for example, people have a strikingly low rate of mental disorder—and Okinawans are notable fish eaters, even by the standards of a piscivorous country like Japan. In contrast, many studies suggest that diets which are rich in trans- and saturated fatty acids, such as those containing a lot of deep-fried foods and butter, have bad effects on cognition. (1) The omega 3 fatty acids found in fish are also common in certain fruits and nuts such as kiwis or walnuts.
In conclusion, we make our food choices oftentimes based on factors other than health and/or health benefits. This is a negative practice that can have major implications on our own self image and worth. If this practice is changed, the benefits are wide ranging and can have drastic effects on ones own view of themselves.
"Intelligent Eating, Food For Thought" The Economist July 17, 2008
November 12, 2008
http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11745528
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