pale0084: April 2012 Archives

"Why do you like cheese cake?"
Because it tastes good..?
"Yes...but why?"

These are the questions that lead us to riveting discussion of evolutionary psychology. As presented by Professor Simpson, the series of evolutionary psychology broke down the very basic functions of the human race and how and why they are present. The above question seems pretty basic, because come on, we all love cheese cake. To delve deeper, we are simply designed to crave foods high in calories, which our bodies need to survive. Though this innate biological trait might seem like a curse in today's world of Big Macs and Krispy Kremes, in the Africa Savanna, food was not something easy to come by. In addition, the portion mentioned why humans innately fear snakes, heights, and can identity "cheaters" is evidence to show that we are more adapted to nature, but the aforementioned items are fearful triggers that could produce potentially fatal outcomes, especially for our ancestors who encountered these items frequently.

Though we covered a mecca of topics in this psychology course, the item that will forever be imprinted in my long-term memory is series on Evolutionary Psychology. The topic can be touchy for some, and before I came to college I had never considered or even had interest in the topic. Professor Simpson did an excellent job of breaking down the commonalities and sure-found connections that have descended from our ancestors.

More and more of Americans are becoming conscious of what they put into their body, and as a result, how their bodies look and react to these food intake changes. Often, quick fad diets are the most popular way to shed 10-20 pounds, but are these really the changes the body wants or needs? The answer is usually no.

A few examples of popular fad diets include the master cleanser, where a person is limited to a concoction of water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper for 15 days. Sounds great, right? Well at the end of the day you can look forward to a warm glass of salt water, in order to trigger bowel movements. Lovely. Another popular diet is the cabbage soup diet-- an age old diet started in the 50's in which you can eat as much cabbage soup as you want, and slowly new foods are reintroduced depending on which day you are on the plan. The grapefruit diet is quite possibly the easiest to follow, by eating a grapefruit with every meal, especially protein, in order to burn as much fat as possible. The problem? You're only allotted 1,000 calories a day. It's recommended that adult females consume at least 1,200 calories a day, so this diet could get pretty messy fast. Watch out for those hunger pains. As described in the book, most of these diets make extraordinary claims, prompting "revolutionary studies" and promoting ambiguous results.

What do all of these diets have in common? Plain and simple; deprivation. Sure, you are allowing some nutrients into the body, but for the most part these "diets" should be looked at as cleanses and cleanses only. Too much of the nutrient depletion could cause your body to go into "melt-down" mode, where each calorie consumed is stored as fat, as opposed to muscle. This happens because of the calorie depletion; the body does not know when it will get it's next meal, it's basically starving itself, so all of the energy consumed is stored as fat, just in case. Do your body a favor and treat it right by following a life-long diet, rich with fruits, leafy green veggies, lean protein, low-fat dairy, and whole grains...and say goodbye to that cayenne pepper.