Eating High-Fat Foods
Eating High-fat Foods
As the fast development of resource utilization and food production, people have an exponential amount of choices of different types of food. This in turn triggers the change in eating habits. High-energy foods are popular choices. However, the food or eating habit that is widely accepted might be maladaptive. Human being’s genes have been influenced by the eating habit. Obesity becomes one concern for large amount of people due to the fasting and high-fat diets. Culture, social environment and economic factors are main reasons for this phenomenon.
From the viewpoint of physical anthropology, the fasting and high-fat diets influence human beings’ genes. “In response to fasting and high-fat diets, histone deacetylases are involved in the epigenetic control of gene expression and alter behavior in response to a variety of environmental factors”, “Behavioral changes include increased locomotor activity, decreased anxiety behaviors, and suppressed sexual and reproductive behaviors” (Hiromasa Funato, 2011). Long-term fasting and high-fat diets have profound influences in human beings from the aspect of biology. Although high-fat food suppresses some capabilities of the body such as sexual and reproductive behaviors, it provides energy and nutrition for the body. For example, Inuit consume high-fat foods to keep the body warm, strong, and healthy. However, when the amount of fat intake is higher than that the body needs, adverse effects would appear. As stated in article “Eating Dirt”, the habit of eating dirt also influences the whole biological system of the body both positively and negatively. “Infection drives the immune system toward its proper end” (Gay y Blasco, P., 2010). The infections that occur in children due to eating dirt promote their development of normal immune systems. However, there are also some threats of eating dirt. “Soils contaminated by industrial or human pollutants pose considerable threat to anyone who eats them” (Gay y Blasco, P., 2010). “Geophagy might cause helminth infections that do harm to the health”(Gay y Blasco, P., 2010). Therefore, although some eating habits, such as eating dirt and high-fat diets, are widely accepted, they are maladaptive in some aspects.
Social environment plays an important role in affecting the eating habits. “The obesity-related eating behaviors, which include skipping breakfast, eating at fast-food restaurants, snacking, and eating while watching television”( Maritza Muñoz-Pareja, 2013). Due to the rapid pace of working and school life, people tend to save every minute as possible as they can, including the time for eating. They skip breakfast or have some instant food that is precooked. Since people are always in a rush, they may prefer simple, convenient and tasty food, fast food becomes their first choice. During the high pressure of work, people needs some