The Influence of Food and Beverages on Human Life - Essay Example

Food and Mood Introduction Food and beverages are the easiest means to make a day wonderful and filled with delight if the choices are accurately met. They claim the highest place among all the preferences of a normal human being. With the development in communication, cultural exchange was enhanced and people across civilised communities have emerged lovers of food and drinks from other cultural groups. A wide range of products like packaged dishes and beverage containers of all purposes are available in the market for the customers’ glee today. Most of them create an instantaneous enthusiasm in the consumer’s mind, though some of them are filled with substances potential enough to damage physical and psychological well-being of mankind. This essay draws your attention to the influence of food and beverages on human life and how they affect our state of mind. Eating Choices Today, the world has become a unit of people sharing their ideas and interests about exploring the opportunities of a distinguished variety each time they seek a change. Most of such changes they bring to their habitual trend are meant for pleasure while the impact of certain substances used in some of the food and drink are harmful in the long run. A right meal at the right time is the topmost priority for anyone; however, a wrong choice of intake inspires him to think nothing beyond the taste or the pleasure obtained from it. Eating habits of different communities are closely related to their relative lifestyles in a general sense. However, people can be classified widely in to vegetarians and non-vegetarians and those who drink and non-drinkers. Eating habit of people designs their health and attitudinal drives in most contexts. A majority of the youngsters today are obsessed with the trendy styles of persuading branded food packages for their hunger quenching quest. Does eating a lot of things of your favourite tastes prove good in the long run? Anyone can say that eating such packaged things are advisable for fun but making it a habit is a short cut to inviting serious health hazards. In the world of consumerism and trend-based lifestyles, almost every food item tastes better when they are packed in attractive brand labels. Most of the products like chocolates and energy drinks are the first-to-find resources for children and youngsters to bust their mood deprivations. According to an approved observation (Raveen, 2002, p.16), such products are easier ways to stimulate energy and accelerate mood resetting, but the fat and calories filled in them pose serious threat to the health of people in the long run. Moreover, the excessive fat intake results in early symptoms of cholesterol and diabetes apart from the visible impact of obesity in many people. Affiliation of mood with food and drinks A majority of the people think that food and drinks can influence their attitude in a way either positive or negative. It has been a custom of people to celebrate festivals and functions of community enthusiasm like marriages, birthdays or other important moments by dining in large groups. A social tendency of sharing joy with food or drinks is considered as the insignia of a civilised community. When taking it to the individual references, the influence of delicacy and variety plays a vital role in the life of almost everyone. Most of the people consider that a good meal served is a great way to influence others. The thought of ensuring delight with delicious dishes for guests is the common tradition across the world. Thus a special meal of any time of the day is influential to people for it signifies a variety of emotional aspects like recognition, consideration, love, honour and above all, it serves the pride of the host on memorable occasions. Food-mood relationship is a topic of unsolved conclusions as its influence is relative of the habits of people. Going to the sciences, the interaction of carbohydrates in chocolates stimulates impulsive changes in children. They are believed to have an influential effect whereby children and some adults achieve a sudden mood change with eating a chocolate. As Medina (2010) points out, the changes attributing to hyperactivity among children are more situational rather than casual effect of the sugar content. Chocolates and psychological status of human being can be considered as a relative aspect. In a general sense, the sugar in chocolates does not prove influential for a potential change in mood for men. However, there are instances of experiments in which women showed a particularly higher enthusiasm to eat chocolates rather than meals containing similar amount of carbohydrates and had a positive change in their mood during their pre-menstrual periods (Lichtenstein Creative Media, n.d). Hence it can be considered as an evidence of food-mood relationship and the ideal for influence of an edible substance in causing a change of mood. Alcohol, Energy Drinks and Coffee Sudden stimulation of energy and excessive metabolic urges are evident results of alcohol in human body. There are many conceptions about the consumption of alcohol; however, a general belief is that a little amount of alcohol brings positive changes in people’s mood with a refreshed mindset to take quick decisions and act more cautiously. While it is also observed that the increase in intake of alcohol badly affects the body in the long run apart from the immediate intoxication. Majority of the people who favours the consumption of alcohol claims that it gives happiness and extra energy to work more effectively. However, most people are not aware of the actual impacts of the function of alcohol in our body. As Norek (2011) points out, alcohol is identified as a toxic agent that impairs micro-level functional units of the body like membranes of nerve cells and the layers of digestive and excretory systems; and as a result, the normal functions of the body are affected with cognitive and sensory regions take the initial impact of the consumption that leads to behavioural or mood changes. Scientific resources prove that habitual alcoholic beverages affect the functions almost every internal organ of the body and the person develops a chance of eventually falling to cancer or other fatal sickness. Similarly, some of the energy drinks consist of performance enhancing substances which stimulate immediate energy while the chemicals contained in them bring serious health hazards like failure of nerves and circulatory system as well as prolonged effects of sleep deprivation and depression during the absence of them. Some people are energised from the intake of some coffee and believe it helps steer their activities without confusion. A cup of coffee or some chocolate drinks at regular intervals brings energy from the stimulating ability of caffeine to increase intellectual activities. Coffee stimulates the functions of almost every system of the body and as a result, it works as a great resource for added energy and a mood stimulator. Despite the known advantages of coffee as a protective energiser, habitual coffee consumption leads to sleep deprivation and energy loss due to excessive urination apart from the threat of caffeine aggravating depression and stress in regular drinkers due to the addictive behaviour of the substance (Coffee, n.d). Psychological Influences Eating as well as drinking choices are sure to influence the psychology of a person right from his birth. Circumstantial influences during the developmental stages take a significant route from the food habits and the choices made for drinks in the early ages. This is a learning process for some of the people to realise the changes food can make in their attitudes. Majority of the people believe food of excessive calorific potentials and fat contents in certain food like meet result in aggravated irritability and hyper activeness among adults. According to certain studies, the topic of food choices is associated with the psychology of the individual. According to Rozin (2006), eventual development from blood in the foetal stage to choices of food varieties in the adulthood exposes a person to distinguishably understand the tastes and qualities through personal experiences as well as observations. Humans seem to like foods that provide a dynamic sensory exposure with a change in properties as they are consumed. Hence it can be observed that the variety of tastes and sensory stimulations is more influential than their predetermined qualities to the psychological reasoning of people to search pleasure in eating or drinking things of their choice. Conclusion Regardless of the requirements or risks of consuming food and beverages, people are enthusiastic to run for new tastes. While discussions on the harmful effects of certain substances in some food and drinks remain endless, people identify the unlimited enthusiasm to explore new eating habits. It is indisputable that the effects of alcohol and energy drinks are harmful to human health even though they act as stress busters or gainers of concentration and energy to perform more intensively. Eating habits of positive mood changing nature are welcome while the hazardous effects of some of the food choices affect the body and mind very badly as excess of food becomes toxic. Awareness on qualities and consumable quantity limits of all food must be essential for people to choose a healthy lifestyle against the possibilities of invited health hazards in pursuit of mood changing tactics. References ‘Coffee: To drink or not to drink’, Pnf. org, Viewed 22 November 2011, < http://www.pnf.org/CoffeeEdited041001.pdf> Lichtenstein Creative Media, n.d, The Infinite Mind, Cambridge: Lichtenstein Creative Media. Medina, L 30 June 2010, ‘Chocolates influence on the hyperactivity of a child’, Livestrong.com, Viewed 22 November 2011, Norek, D 20 February 2011, ‘Heed the toxic effects of alcohol’, Natural News.com, Viewed 22 November 2011, Rozin, P 2006, The Integration of Biological, Social, Cultural and Psychological Influences on Food Choices, Shepherd, R & Raats, M (Eds), The Psychology of Food Choice, CAB International, UK. Raveen 2002, ‘Health: How to break bad health habits for good’, Jet, Jan 14, p.16. Read More