(This is Part 4 of a continuing series. Go back to Part 3.)
In the previous article in this series, the effects of stimulation were explored, using drug stimulants and economic stimulants as examples. A further example would be the stimulant effect of certain foods.
Foods have become prevalent lately which were never intended to be processed by our bodies. The fast food, the refined sugar-water, the deep-fat fries, the white-flour sticky buns, the fatty cheese-pizzas, and on and on.
These foods and many others are distinguished by extraordinarily high amounts of highly-refined fats, sugars, starches and salt. There is evidence lately that highly-refined substances such as these become stimulative and addictive by the very concentration that they undergo in the process of refinement.
Meanwhile portions have become "super-sized," so that our so-called "modern" diets contain even more of these concentrated substances, which act as strong stimulants to our taste buds. It is not difficult to become rather addicted to these strong and unnatural taste sensations.
In order to go further, let's take a little detour and look at a phenomenon of our nervous systems called habituation or the neuro-adaptive response.
For instance, when we step from an indoor room to noonday sunlight we experience great brightness at first; but then our eyes and brain adjust and we experience the light as normal. Our system has adapted.
Similarly, if we hear a loud and continual noise such as crickets or a hum we'll be aware of it at first, but then it will slowly fade into the background until we're hardly aware of it. Again, a process of adaptation has occurred.
The same phenomenon happens with "modern" concentrated foods that create intense taste stimulations. After awhile the body adapts and we experience a "normal" taste sensation, no more pleasurable than someone eating a natural unrefined diet. The body has adapted.
But here's the trap. If we now switch from a "modern," concentrated, stimulative diet to a more natural and healthful diet, we'll experience at first a diminution of pleasure. This diminution of pleasure is temporary but can be very misleading if we misinterpret it.
It's similar to stepping from bright sunlight back indoors. At first we'll experience the indoors as rather dark and without light; but then the body will adapt again and we'll experience the light in the room as normal.
When we go from highly concentrated and stimulative foods to a more natural and healthful diet without highly-refined fats, sugars, starches and salt, at first the new diet will seem bland and uninteresting.
But after a time lag the body will adapt back to its normal state, and then whole, natural, unrefined foods will seem to be bursting with intense flavor. What happened is that the body re-calibrated to the more natural, less concentrated foods and then we experience the same amount of pleasure as before.
Scientific evidence suggests that this process takes approximately 30 to 90 days. That is, if we switch to a more natural and healthful diet it will take about that long for the body to recalibrate from the excess stimulation.
During this transition period of reduced pleasure, it helps very much to know that the experience of reduced pleasure is a temporary one and will be replaced in 1-3 months by the same amount of eating pleasure as we experienced before.
This being so, if we wish to make the transition to a fresh, natural diet we can do so with enthusiasm, knowing that our new more healthful diet will be experienced as intensely satisfying within a relatively short period of time.
This more natural kind of diet can be called a fresh produce diet, because it consists primarily of fresh fruits and vegetables, with the variable addition of nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes. And I can vouch for the experience of ultimately perceiving this kind of diet as wonderful and pleasurable.
(For other articles on this website about diet, click on this word—"body"—and scan the titles available.)
(This is the end of Part 4. Go to Part 5.)
—jim sloman, 5.5.03 for 9.8.03
|
