Many people like to grab their gloves and duke it out over
the nature or nurture argument. Its one thing to be passionate about an idea,
but it’s another to clobber in someone’s face for the sake of
conventionalities. And yet, people continue to choose sides on a debate that is
no closer to being solved than when it started. Climbing the ranks of this
debate is the question of what influences hunger and diet. Some people stay skinny
without trying while others keep getting fatter. I’m not one to sit by and
enjoy some popcorn, so I’m tossing in my two-cents on this topic.
Dietary habits are influenced by genetic, environmental, and cultural factors. Shafer et al.
performed a genome study on dental carries and determined something
interesting; genetics plays a role in taste sense. They further determined that
an individual’s genetic structure can alter his or her desire or dislike for
carbohydrates. This makes a lot of sense when we simply look at the different
backgrounds of people.
EurAsians were humans who lived in the more cold and
seasonal areas. Because of this, they would slowly adapt to having a greater
desire for carbohydrates. Due to the
rarity of natural sugars, the body would have developed triggers to increase the
reward of getting them; in other words sweet cravings and sensations will be
intensified. EurAsians main diet, however, would have consisted of mainly
animal meat, tubers, and greens. Fast forward a few thousand years and their
descendants should still have this increased palate for sweets.
However, back in the early days of yore foods were very
seasonal. In fact, just a hundred years ago finding fruit during the late
winter was an abnormal feat. The summer months grew fruit, and the winter
months grew greens. We all know that the earth is seasonal, but did you know
that your body is as well? You’ve probably heard of the Circadian rhythm, a 24
hour cycle the body goes through, but humans also go through biorhythms.
A biorhythm is a physical, emotional, or an intellectual
cycle that people go through. Each cycle lasts roughly one month (23 days, 28
days, 33 days), and they each can play a significant role in someone’s training
or diet. Women go through obvious cycles (menstrual), and even men have been
shown to go through hormonal cycles as well. If people can go through
biorhythms simply based on hormonal cycles, why wouldn’t they go through
seasonal cycles as well?
The environment can play a huge impact on what we crave.
Because our ancestors would have had limited access to natural sugars during
the colder seasons, we would have less taste sensitivity for them; thus it would be harder for us to satisfy our sugar cravings. Now you have an excuse for why you can’t stop
eating Christmas cookies and pie during the holidays – it’s your ancestors
fault.
However, these can’t be the end all answers as to why we
fail our diets; because many people who have descended from the same
environment have different cravings. A new study of genetics called
epigenetics, the study of how the environment affects genetic triggers, could
shed some light on hunger. An overview by Christopher Harshaw
explains how hunger is first and foremost an “instinct,” however, over time it
can be changed. For example, if you’re ancestors passed on a genetic code for
you to crave sugar, but your parents fed you a healthy diet without much sugar
then you might flip a genetic switch causing you not to crave as much
sugar. Likewise, if you have a predisposition to crave sugar and your parents
gratified you with twinkies then your body might amp up the craving for sugar;
thus making it even harder for you to fight temptations (more excuses to eat
Christmas cookies).
So no matter how you look at it, there are a lot of reasons
why certain foods are appealing to one group of people and appalling to
another. This is also why some people may struggle with dieting while others
can hardly polish off a single serving. Can this actually help you stick to your
diet? Probably not, but it does give you a glimpse into why it’s harder for you
than the fitness model in the magazine.
This draws me back to a point that I bring up a lot, “Quit comparing your success to someone else’s
genetics.” All you can do now is buckle down and overcome any stumbling
stone standing between you and your goals.
#DOuENDU
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