Healthy Eating #15

Last of the HE series. I think.

If you can think of a topic I didn't cover, *you* make the video. :-)

The last in the series discusses recent findings linking mental disorders to poor nutrition. For further reading, here is a link:

http://www.newstarget.com/020268.html

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to see these talking head videos, left comments, and written to me. You make it all worthwhile.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• eating
• disorder
• healthy
• fat
• obese
• obesity
• nutrition
• mental

[designanddirection]

Behavioural studies with peer reviewed evidence is what science has to rely on. Evidence of what food does to the human brain at a neurological level is much harder to study - for obvious reasons.

Our hunter gatherer ancestors were driven to find and consume sweet, fatty and salty food. Now we live with an overabundance of these items it's a drive we find much harder to switch off.

[Urgelt]

No, the body of knowledge in science is not composed solely of surveys picking out dubious correlations. There are also laboratory studies of animals (also with shortcomings, of course), in vitro studies, computer modeling, and others. The problem we face in all forms of study is the daunting complexity of human physiology.

It's this complexity that should make us very wary of drawing simplistic conclusions - like "an overabundance of sweet, fatty and salty foods is causing our problems."

[Urgelt]

Here is a run-down of just some of the factors science has correlated to obesity, for example: sleep deprivation. Many drugs. Certain intestinal bacteria. Adenoviruses. High-sugar foods. Genetics. Malnutrition.

Excessive caloric intake is still on the list - but any of the other factors, singly or in combination, can produce obesity without it.

Other factors will be added. I'm pretty sure we'll find more infectious diseases disregulate fat cells than we currently know about.

[designanddirection]

In a study in Sweden they linked prisoner behaviour to the prison diet. Increases in Omega 3 intake through oily fish on the prison menu had a direct correlation to a decrease in violent incidents in a year long study at a jail.

[Urgelt]

Surveys like that one are the weakest form of scientific evidence - though they *are* a form of evidence. But what we'd really like to know is how nutrients affect organisms at the cellular-biochemical level to influence human behavior. That's an area full of almost nothing but questions.

Still, I took the study to be an indication, one of many, that nutrition matters, and that the Omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA contribute something vital to human health.

Thanks for contributing, DAD.

[MsVenaLuna]

"When was the last time a mental health doctor asked you about your diet?" That is so so true!! My aunt worked in a mental hospital. People who were in there with delusional illnesses, paranoia, anxiety, insomnia etc were getting up in the middle of the night and drinking LOTS of coffee, and no one batted an eyelid apparently!! If coffee makes sane people loopy, what on earth are they doing giving it to the mentally ill? My thoughts entirely!! Toxins are often causes of this sort of thing

[Urgelt]

I'm afraid it's ignorance. Mind you, I don't claim to be any kind of expert. But many doctors just completely ignore the nutritional and drug implications of the foods and beverages that are served to mentally-ill patients. The doctors often don't know they should be interested in it. You don't have to be an expert to know that's wrong-headed.

Thank you for adding to our conversation, MsVenaLuna.

[gattingattino]

There are no words that may ever contain the ------->gratitute! towards you infinite generosity! Thank you Professor Urgelt! GRAZIE!

[MsVenaLuna]

@Urgelt It is ignorance. Many people now see, thankfully, that it's common sense! Admittedly there was a point when personally, I didn't think about how things I put into my body could affect it either, but when one becomes concious of how things are processed, you can attribute the effects, or "symptoms" of these things to the diet. Leading a healthy lifestyle then becomes more important. You do have to suffer for a while first though, to appreciate the benefits =) Great talks Urgelt :)

[kurtnils]

Urgelt- I have an essay on childhood obesity-- I would love to send it to you- I have a planned in class activity for my lecture hall this summer, can I send it- and if so how?