Good, Bad, and Ugly "Cry It Out" Eating
There's a common macrobiotic saying... "Feelings buried alive never die." In my own life, it's looked a little bit like this...
When I'm stressed, I turn to crappy, "get-up-and-go" foods like coffee, sugar, ramen noodles, nachos, and pizza. It's human nature to turn to quick and easy sources of energy high in fat, sugar, and calories when we're under stress. From an evolutionary perspective, it helps you get away from the unholy prehistoric beastie trying to pick its teeth with your femur. The grease from that pizza would probably sustain you through those irksome month-long yak rides through the tundra.
Unfortunately, our brains and bodies are unable to truly distinguish the difference between doctoral thesis all-nighters and dawn-of-time Iberian migrations. Junk food companies (Dominos comes to mind... I've thrown it up for the last time!!) have got their fingers on the pulse of these cravings, and in addition to providing us with sugar-laden, fatty, carb-filled snacks, have loaded them with preservatives so that their ingredients stay fresh from their beginnings at manufacturing centers until end times.
So there are two main problems here:
1. We're not crossing the Iberian Peninsula. Even though our bodies read stress as a need for calories, most of us are never going to use that excess energy (except to feed our anxiety more!), so the fats and sugars are a waste. The kind of stress that comes from danger and the kind of stress that comes from responsibilities are different requests. They shouldn't get the same answer.
2. Even if we were crossing the Iberian Peninsula, how exactly does BHT protect me from the hostile predators? It doesn't. Basically, while the excess fats and sugars from these foods are putting their own crimp in your macrobiotic balance, your body often has the additional pleasure of attempting to break down chemical preservatives. I read a statistic recently in the paper that says that the average human body takes three times longer to decompose now than it did in the 1960's due to all the chemical preservatives ingested during life. We're embalming ourselves... that's something that the big packaged food companies probably don't want you to think about while you're eating those cute little cookies shaped like bears.
So what do I do when I'm stressed and reach for the tea and cookies?
Don't ask me. I'll let you know as soon as I do. Right now I'm investigating a shock collar or one of those little anklets like Lindsay Lohan has...
No comments:
Post a Comment