Consuming Passions

Abstract

Why do some people eat more food than their bodies need? From virtually the time we are born we start to be programmed and this programming continues throughout our lives. As children we are programmed to feel guilty if we waste food, to finish up all the food on our plates, to associate sweet things with getting a treat and to expect meals at regular set times. All this environmental conditioning programmes us into our own particular “belief system” about eating. Our responses to food can become automatic and food gets linked to our emotions — with stress, tension and anxiety all affecting our eating habits.