You Are What You Eat: To What Extent Is This True? Essay
Introduction, chemical aspect, food consumption case study.
Consumed food affects people’s health and life activity as bodies receive different vitamins and nutritional elements. In some parts of the world, the deficit of specific vitamins can appear due to the lack of sun or the unpopularity of seafood. According to Cashman, a huge amount of ultraviolet synthesizes vitamin D in skin 1 . To ensure the full capacity of this component, people should constantly live in locations where the number of sunny days exceeds rainy days. People who do not have access to these locations should consume more products like salmon, cod liver, and tuna to increase the amount of needed vitamin D. Hair loss and weak bones can be the direct indicators of what people eat 2 . The general body appearance can signal the early steps of avitaminosis.
People should pay more attention to the composition of chemical elements in their dishes. The perception of food can vary depending on the location and the general atmosphere. For example, Spence stated that different chemical processes happen when people eat at home and in restaurants 3 . Chemical element splitting affects the level of generated endorphins, and during the day out in a specific food place, people may experience more happiness from the consumed food 4 . Endorphins retrieved from food can help people to cope with stress and look more attractive.
Lack of attention paid to the type of food and balance of products can cause health problems like obesity. Daily consumption of fatty food approves the statement “you are what you eat,” as skin problems and critical body mass are direct and visible indicators of the issue. In the early stage of obesity development, the changes in the general appearance might not be clear, but the shifts in the body mass index (BMI) are significant 5 . People with these health problems start losing interest in physical activities and dive into depression 6 . In this case, the skin might become pale and the facial expressions can be less bright.
The influence of the surroundings builds eating habits and the general attitude to food. Timmermans et al. conducted a study where they found out that children in The Netherlands influence their peers to buy unhealthy food as it makes them cooler around others 7 . Children and teenagers build their food perception by observing parents and friends. However, due to the fact that most of the time is spent at school, other children have a greater impact on eating habits. This issue has caused 15.6% of obesity around children in The Netherlands 8 . The parents’ attention to what their children eat at school helps protect a relatively high health level and ensure that food positively influences how young people look in society.
In conclusion, the food people indeed consume depends on their appearance and mental condition. This happens because some people might receive more vitamins from specific products and look better, but others are required to consume more to stay in the same condition. Moreover, the habits taken from childhood greatly influence the relationship to food and its importance in looking attractive and healthy.
Cashman, K. D., “ Vitamin D deficiency: Defining, prevalence, causes, and strategies of addressing ”, Calcified Tissue International 106 (2020): 14-29. Web.
Chooi, Y. C., Ding, C. and Magkos, F., “ The epidemiology of obesity ”, Metabolism 92 (2019): 6-10. Web.
Higgs, S. and Ruddock, H., “ Social influences on eating ”, Handbook of Eating and Drinking (2020): 277-291. Web.
- Spence, Charles. Gastrophysics: The new science of eating. Penguin UK, 2017.
Timmermans, J., Dijkstra, C. and Kamphuis, C., “’ Obesogenic’ school food environments? An urban case study in The Netherlands ”, IJERPH 15:4 (2018): 619. Web.
Zmora, N., Suez, J. and Elinav, E., “ You are what you eat: Diet, health and the gut microbiota ”, Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology 16 (2019): 35-56. Web.
- Cashman, K. D., “Vitamin D deficiency: Defining, prevalence, causes, and strategies of addressing”, Calcified Tissue International 106 (2020): 14.
- Cashman, K. D., “Vitamin D deficiency: Defining, prevalence, causes, and strategies of addressing”, Calcified Tissue International 106 (2020): 15.
- Zmora, N., Suez, J. and Elinav, E., “You are what you eat: Diet, health and the gut microbiota”, Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology 16 (2019): 37.
- Chooi, Y. C., Ding, C. and Magkos, F., “The epidemiology of obesity”, Metabolism 92 (2019): 6.
- Higgs, S. and Ruddock, H., “Social influences on eating”, Handbook of Eating and Drinking (2020): 278.
- Timmermans, J., Dijkstra, C. and Kamphuis, C., “’Obesogenic’ school food environments? An urban case study in The Netherlands”, IJERPH 15:4 (2018): 619.
- Chicago (A-D)
- Chicago (N-B)
IvyPanda. (2024, January 2). You Are What You Eat: To What Extent Is This True? https://ivypanda.com/essays/you-are-what-you-eat-to-what-extent-is-this-true/
"You Are What You Eat: To What Extent Is This True?" IvyPanda , 2 Jan. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/you-are-what-you-eat-to-what-extent-is-this-true/.
IvyPanda . (2024) 'You Are What You Eat: To What Extent Is This True'. 2 January.
IvyPanda . 2024. "You Are What You Eat: To What Extent Is This True?" January 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/you-are-what-you-eat-to-what-extent-is-this-true/.
1. IvyPanda . "You Are What You Eat: To What Extent Is This True?" January 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/you-are-what-you-eat-to-what-extent-is-this-true/.
Bibliography
IvyPanda . "You Are What You Eat: To What Extent Is This True?" January 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/you-are-what-you-eat-to-what-extent-is-this-true/.
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- You Are What You Eat
Origin of “You are What You Eat”
The exact source of this phrase is unknown but it is said that Anthelme Brillat-Savarin used this phrase in his book, “Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante” published in 1826 and it translates in English as, “ [Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are] .” Later in his essay , Concerning Spiritualism and Materialism in 1863-64, Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach also used this phrase in almost similar meanings. Both imply the same meanings that food we eat has a bearing on our mental and physical conditions.
Meaning of “You are What You Eat”
It is a metaphorical expression implying what people eat could eventually affect their lives. If they eat healthy food, they will feel healthy, and if they eat rubbish and junk food, they will not feel healthy. It is because these are the types of foods, which affect human weight and consequently affect hair condition, organs, teeth skin, and brain cells, etc. To simply put it, food defines your physical and mental character .
Usage of “You are What You Eat”
The phrase means that to become healthy and fit, one needs to eat balanced and good food. For instance, if you eat consistently a variety of life-sustaining, healthy and whole foods, then your body would glow and give you better feelings. If you eat mostly nutrient-dense foods, such as whole plant foods including beans, onions, berries, seeds, green vegetables, and fruits, you would get a heavy amount of minerals, vitamins, anti-oxidants, phyto-nurtrients and carotenoids that keep human body strong, healthy and also protect it from high cholesterol, cancer and heart diseases. However, in case you live on fast foods or junk and trash, it will certainly affect your bodily organs and lead to several physical ailments as well as impacts your mental condition.
Literary Source
This phrase first appeared in Anthelme Brillat-Savarin’s book, and is translated into English as;
“Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.”
In fact, it intends to encourage and motivate people to be health conscious in that they need to consider every food item before they take in.
Literary Analysis of “You are What You Eat”
On the surface, the phrase conveys that to be healthy and fit, your intake of food should be good. However, the interpretation could go deeper as, foods contain different nutrients including vitamins, amino acids, minerals, etc. and our human body cells are made up of these nutrients. When we eat this food, our digestive system extracts these nutrients from food, and it becomes part of body cells, and finally, this food makes us feel strong and fresh if it is balanced diet or weak and tired, if not containing sufficient ingredients. Hence, it affects our thinking too. Literally, we become what we eat. Also, there are a number of healthy and unhealthy eaters around the world, yet the statistics prove that some people are healthier than others, depending on which type of meal they eat daily. That is why the use of this phrase indicates a mental makeup of a nation.
Literary Devices
- Metaphor : Food is a metaphor for human beings.
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You Are What You Eat
- Category: Food , Life
- Topic: Importance of Food , Personality
Pages: 1 (466 words)
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