Motivation and the Brain - Eating Healthy Essay Example for Free

Motivation and the Brain Eating Healthy Essay Eating right is essential for positive motivation and clear thinking. The brain, specifically the hypothalamus, along with the cerebral hemisphere works closely with physiological stimulation. This includes all five of our senses, specifically speaking, taste. Explaining the brain function associated with eating, I will discuss the influence of extrinsic and intrinsic factors, which will include heredity and involving the environment. In addition I will discuss the motivation need to succeed in eating healthy. The main function of the hypothalamus is homeostasis, or maintaining the bodys state in which it works. Factors such as blood pressure, body temperature, fluid and electrolyte balance, and body weight are held to a precise value called the set-point. The Hypothalamus organizes and controls many complex emotions, feelings and moods, as well as all motivational states including hunger, appetite and food intake, and everything to do with the concept of pleasure including satisfaction, comfort and creative activities (Incredible Horizons, 2009). It appears that almost everything the Hypothalamus does is related in some way to weight management and controlled weight loss. When the Hypothalamus is not working properly, food becomes more important, but increasingly more unfulfilling. We end up never feeling satisfied with the foods which we have eaten, gradually eating more and more to try to compensate for whatever is lacking. From a metabolism point of view, the Hypothalamus not only governs the motivation to eat, but most importantly how eating is to be experienced, if it is satisfying or not, and how deep the satisfaction occurs. This gives an idea just how important a healthy hypothalamic function really is (Incredible Horizons, 2009). Understanding how the hypothalamus works and keeping it healthy could be an extrinsic motivational factor to eat healthy. Being educated on how food affects the brain but also the body as a whole would be an example of extrinsic motivation. However, it is how we learn to eat, hereditarily speaking that gives us the tools to start out eating healthy from a young age or not. Lifelong food preference tends to start to develop while a baby is still in the mother’s womb. The strongest pattern for future food preferences is formed during the age of 9 to 19 months of age (Vera, 2009). At this time, everything connected with food intake leaves a strong imprint on the child’s brain. Also, the baby is tasting everything with his or her mouth; toys, shoes, body parts, etc. Concurrently, the child is memorizing the experiences of his mother and fathers eating habits; what they are eating, what they are feeding the baby, their emotional reaction to the baby’s consumption of these foods all while the unsuspecting parents believe that the child does not comprehend much of what is going on. The reality is the child is forming food habits for a lifetime. Whatever the first tastes, textures, smells an sights of food are, that child will crave them for the rest of his or her life, especially in moments of distress. Because of this, it would appear that comfort food is not too far from the truth. This was often a time in a child’s life when their mom or dad focused much love and caring on them and purely through association finds its way into our adult lives when we feel emotionally distressed or needing comfort. Human behavior patterns forming in childhood are crucially important for parents to pay close attention to the eating habits they are helping their children form (Vera, 2009). Promoting healthy eating habits with special care introducing fresh fruits and vegetables to their children as much as possible; in addition, parents must keep this promotion up otherwise children will fall prey to the society’s image of food which is unhealthy; another extrinsic example. In today’s society negative eating habits are advertised in every corner. According to Not Alone website, the top ten lists of popular food most people eat on a regular basis may not appear too alarming: a burger meal, Pizza, Spaghetti, or even a hot dog meal. However, after reviewing the nutritional analysis it should be alarming! For example, a burger meal contains 1300 calories, 34 grams of protein, 189 grams of carbohydrates and 44 grams of fat. This is equivalent to 38 teaspoons of sugar and a half of a stick of butter (McKeith, Ph. D. , 2005). The normal daily calorie intake should be 2,550 for men and 1,940 for women (McKeith, Ph. D. , 2005). Unfortunately the typically daily intake for both men and women are on average 3, 877 calories. Knowing these statistics should lead a person to use internal motivation to recognize the severity of the issue and begin to eat healthy. To conclude, eating right is essential for positive motivation and clear thinking. We have learned the hypothalamus, along with the cerebral hemisphere works closely with physiological stimulation including taste. I’ve explained the brain function associated with eating, discussed the influence of extrinsic and intrinsic factors including heredity and the environment. Lastly, I discussed the motivation need to succeed in eating healthy. References Breck, K. B. (2011). A practical guide to a happy life. Retrieved from http://www. kristenguide. com/Health/Weight_Loss/ways_to_stay_motivated. asp Incredible Horizons. (2009). Hypothalmus Function. Retrieved from http://www. incrediblehorizons. com/balance-Hypo%20function. htm McKeith, Ph. D. , G. (2005). 10 Foods People Eat On a Regular Basis. You Are What You Eat: The Plan that Will Change Your Life. Not Alone. Retrieved from http://www. enotalone. com/article/25017. html NowLoss. (2011). Getting Motivated. Retrieved from http://www. nowloss. com/how-to- get-motivation-to-lose-weight. htm The Life Co. (2009). A new recipe for life!. Retrieved from http://www. thelifeco. com/cok-okunanlar. aspx? id=478 Vera, Dr. (2009). Hereditary Eating Habits. Quantum Evolution. Retrieved from http://www. quantumevolution. comau/hereditary_eating_habits. htm.