Stress
In chapter 17, Taubes brought up a very interesting point about how our behavior is in response to our physiological needs. He gives the example of how depressed patients are totally inactive, which is their body’s effort to conserve enough energy to maintain a constant internal balance. This made me think about how people react to stress. People’s weight tends to fluctuate when they are really stressed. Some people have no appetite when they are stressed, and as a result they lose weight. Other people eat excessively as a response to stress and gain weight. I wonder what causes these different responses to the same emotion. I would think that the overeating would be a response to needing more energy to maintain a constant internal balance. As a result people have food cravings. Possibly for people who lose weight, it could be a flight-or-fight response, making food unappealing to them.
Comments
I know that my appetite is always at the mercy of my mood and the events going on in my life. During finals week, I am always hungry because I am stressed and eating fatty foods like McDonalds makes me feel better about myself for some reason. But I also know that when something in my life goes horribly wrong, I can't eat at all. I remember one time I got in a lot of trouble when I was in high school and I couldn't eat all day. Unlike what most people think, your body is not a machine that can have a switch flipped. Good post Liz.
Posted by: Tyler S | April 22, 2009 10:58 AM