Food choices ,Obesity and susceptibility to infection
Yesterday received a sad news of a friend losing her husband to corona virus. He was quite overweight. Lot of studies are being conducted which are trying to establish link between obesity and SARS_CoV-2. Obesity impairs immunity, causes inflammation, increases risk of heart diseases and diabetes even in younger population.
During lockdown I was amazed to see continuous stream of photos of people indulging in food. The biggest positive, most were cooking. As a nutritionist I am expected to have huge collection and know-how of different recipes.
I remember when I was doing my masters in foods and nutrition, I was rigorously taught planning diets for both normal and therapeutic usage alongside applied nutrition, physiology, biochemistry, microbiology and industrial application. This is almost 30 years back. I wonder how different is the curriculum now?
During final year of my masters our professors decided to test our practical knowledge and asked to us to compulsorily participate in two competitions. One was making a game to impart nutrition education and second was to create a healthy snack recipe. Everyone was enthusiastic except me as I couldn’t come up with any idea till the very last day. Somehow, I always feel competitions kill creativity.
On the last day I started exploring the available stuff around me to build a game. I only had a cardboard and few glaze-papers. I chose 5 foods and cut them out on cardboard, pasted the glaze paper of same color as food and wrote the nutrients present in them. I created a jigsaw puzzle. Here’s a glimpse:
I had only one thought in mind, “if I need to teach a child what would be the easiest and fun way to do it.” I assembled all blocks in a chocolate box and submitted my game and went to cookery lab assuming no one would be interested in my game. To my surprise my game attracted most guests and fetched 1st prize. To my bigger surprise I also won the best snack recipe as well. Spontaneity handholds creativity.
This pandemic keeps putting everyone in various moods including fear, anxiety, frustration and loneliness. Acknowledging weakness feels threatening when we all want to feel safe. From very time of our birth we have linked food with feelings: safety, love, togetherness, belonging and happiness. Years of work as nutritionist and weight loss expert I have witnessed food has roots in few other emotions as well like fear, anxiety, loneliness, anger, frustration. If I try to create the same game today it will look like this:
Food is primary to our existence. The attachment with food I am witnessing in recent years didn’t appear very strong when I was a teenager. Yes, we all liked certain foods but obsessive attachment I find all around these days is worrisome. I think social media has a role to play here. Desire to look better, portray ideal relationships, act successful and be THE BEST has put us all in rat race.
Food has become a facility to satisfy our emotions:
· If I am happy food becomes my family to share my happiness.
· if I am lonely food becomes my companion
· if I am anxious food will become my friend or foe
· if I am angry food can help to calm down
· if I am sad it can comfort me like my mother
I thought we need food to provide us energy…it is the fuel. Sadly, these days we connect food with pleasure and enforce it. Life is short, what’s the big deal if happiness is also short lived. We can derive it whenever we want. And the ugly face of addiction pops up.
Are we all confused with reality or trying our best to overlook?
I am proposing you a perspective which extends beyond food. You may take it or reject it.
Happiness: You can know it best when you are proved wrong and you break the barrier or feel of rain on your face, morning walk. Food is not the only source.
Satisfaction: When I do something in spontaneity and it clicks. It can be letting go of ego or reading a good book, teach someone. Can you add few more options?
Peace: Nothing is comparable to letting go, keeping quiet, helping others, believing in goodness.
Purpose: Building a network to connect diabetics, learn to dance or swim, writing a book, can they bring purpose to my existence.
Safety: Both physical and emotional. We feel safe when we operate in a group of like-minded people where we can take the risk and open up to share freely. Relationships are built by building trust. And, when trust is operative, we feel safe. I don’t need food to feel safe.
Love: Look within. We all have tremendous love operative within us. The time we stand up and hold our idea, when we sleep on a clean bed, when we drink a glass of water, when we wear our favourite dress. The more we focus on love more we grow it and more we share it with others.
Oops I wanted to write about food, obesity and Covid-19 and got distracted, happily though :)
Try a small exercise. Draw a heart with pomegranate seeds and fill it up with the foods you so much want to eat. Which foods would find place inside your heart? :)
Happy eating friends and maintain healthy weight.