6 scary facts you didn’t know about your brain on food – The Holy Connection
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6 scary facts you didn’t know about your brain on food
Hardeep Pathak September 11, 2015	Civilization, Food Comments Off on 6 scary facts you didn’t know about your brain on food 4,031 Views
You think you know your brain? And you think you know the f ood you eat? And you think you know how your brain combined with your food can trick you and scare you? Well, think again. But read on for now, if you are curious about these two things that really matter too much.
‘Serotonin hack’ – Junk Food is shamelessly taming & abusing your brain chemicals, especially the good – happy ones – Serotonin & Dopamine. Giant food corporations end up spending millions of dollars in researching the most addictive level of crunch in the French fries and the right amount of salt-sugar combination so that you can have a sudden rush or flood of serotonin in your brain. Serotonin rush is a ‘high’. A high that suddenly elevates your mood & makes you feel better emotionally. You end up emotional eating. And unlike Endorphins or Anandamide induced ‘high’, a Serotonin induced high doesn’t last long. So your brain desires more of that; ending in a perpetual cycle to crave for unhealthy junk food.
‘Memory response hack’ – After a really stressed out day at work, your Serotonin levels were really low causing you to feel withdrawal or anxiety and sending you in search of food. What better than junk food that gets you chemically high? You eat a very satisfying burger meal. Your brain suddenly starts feeling so good. And you are trapped in a ‘memory response’ hack now. Whenever you will smell, see, hear or read about that particular food, your brain will trigger those happy memory responses that came when you ate it; ending in a perpetual cycle to crave for unhealthy junk food.
‘Sensory response hack’ – Junk food further hacks your sensory responses as well. Millions of dollars spent on the right taste, perfect smell, the sound of crunch, the feel of softness & the beautiful garnishing. A treat for all your senses. Your sensory responses generally go dull when you repeatedly eat something; it doesn’t excite you anymore. But has it been so in the case of chips & French fries? You can swallow down one full packet of Lay’s and would immediately be ready for one more. Yet another perpetual cycle to crave for unhealthy junk food.
Carbohydrates and especially glucose is the primary energy source for your brain. An organ that is 2% of your body weight consumes 25% of the energy intake. It is vital to keep eating for the brain to function. You skip one meal and your ability to focus decreases. Your rational mind shuts off eventually and you end up blabbering, grief struck & depressed.
As you share a planetary evolution history with the plants & animals th at you eat, you also have similar chemicals & neurotransmitters that they have. Only the ‘active’ ingredients in the food we eat are received by our brain ecosystem. These ‘active’ ingredients are the ones which are either similar to your brain’s own neurotransmitters or they have the capability of influencing & activating the release of some neurotransmitters. This is why & how the content of our diet directly interacts with our neurons & influences our cognitive functions. Different feelings of being dizzy, tired, happy, dazed, high, etc. could be induced by different food. And under the influence of some psychoactive plants, you altogether alter your complete sense of self-awareness or consciousness. The chemicals in each meal will alter the functioning of your neurons & dictate out loud how you should feel.
Next time when you think you are suffering from psychological problems, go blame your food first. If not your food, then your food habits are the culprit.
When the food you eat enters all the way down your intestinal tract, you release a chemical called cholecystokinin (CCK) which conveys that you are full and should eat no more. However, if you eat huge quantity of food very quickly, your brain might not be able to synthesize CCK with the same rate leading you to binge much more than you actually could tolerate. You would ultimately have the constant sense of purging and getting rid of the food that you ate, usually done by vomiting or using laxatives. You, my dear, are a patient of Bulimia Nervosa which is frequently associated with other mental disorders like depression, anxiety and a higher risk of self-damage.
Similarly, if you eat too slow, the CCK is over-sensitized and is released much more frequently. In contrast with Bulimics, you will feel full in just a few bites. You, my dear, are a patient of Anorexia Nervosa.
A dark chocolate in silent darkness will get you scarily ‘high’
Leave that aside, we have chocolate sniffing devices available now with monitored dozes that get you high for 15 minutes. We have Cacao Shamans who treat Cacao trees as ‘Mother Cacao’ and who conduct ‘Cacao Shamanic Ceremonies’ for a journey inwards. Altered states of Cacaoness, eh?
If you are a chocoholic, do not check this video by VICE about young people getting high on chocolates, a chocolate fashion show, a bath tub full of chocolate with hot girl bathing inside, cacao shamanism and people snorting cacao. Enough reasons for you to watch it anyway, eh? 😀
Further Tripping:
Food is Drug & Drug is Food. Read further on Point 4 here.
Read how to quit junk food here.
Read more on Anorexia Nervosa here.
Read more on Bulimia Nervosa here.
Skipping meals will turn your brain into a MUSH. More on Point 2 here.
7 kinds of foods that are terrible for your brain.
More on the chocolate sniffing device.
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