Hi Friends,

Something ridiculous happened here which has never happened - I took down an entire post. And it wasn't because I lost track of what I was doing or because one of my eyes suddenly became cross eyed but because I was not confident of what I was writing. Confidence is a product of one's imagination and right now, I lack an imaginative mind. I am more in the realm of the physical. I was eating and later sulking on my lazy, non confident mind when I came across some authentic fact that our eating habits go a long way to reveal our moods and personalities.

Wikimedia by Atmo CC BY SA 2.0

Truth be told, everything we do is an expression of who we are. So having our eating habit reflect us is quite an expected thing. Several reports have talked about how food have quite influenced our emotions and perceptions as human beings. So, on this post, I will move from talking about how our eating habits is a determinant of our personality and several other psychological reports on food and humans. So just stay tuned.

The way you eat is the way you live

First, let's get round the fact that every single person has has a different way of eating. Sometimes, it becomes even hard to even be able to categorise the several kinds of eaters we have. But I am not going to make it a business to do that here. I am just gonna pick on the very few I can . So, there is the slow eater, the one that must eat with others in a collective gathering. These slow eaters aren't slow because they can't manage to lift their hands to their mouth quite quickly, it is actually because they like to enjoy their food. It just does not make sense to them to eat in a hurry.

Now, in just the same manner that this people find eating a pleasurable thing, they treat all of life in the same manner. They are patient with life and they like to enjoy it in tidbits. These are the kinds that would take time doing a job but would do very well, they rarely meet deadlines and they do everything they do with such intensity that is very inspiring. The slow eaters/livers has it going for them but then, when they fight or when you need them to get something done urgently, they aren't always at their best.

Wikimedia by Gabriel Rodriguez CC BY SA 2.0

The fast eater is tangentially placed alongside the slow eater. The life of someone who eats in a rush just as well moves in a pace that is speedy. They do well with pressure because even before the rush starts, they are way past it already. This means that they meet deadlines easily, they multi-task without stress and they are able to spot out problems within a relationship and fix it because they see many things at once. This is a good thing, but imagine when it is the other people that should fix the problem. That can be a real problem as the other person(s) might not be able to see the issues just as quickly as they would. In essence, fast track people have the tendency of riding on others while they are quickly speeding by. And yes, for someone who is riding by that quickly, it becomes easy to miss out on some fun part of life.

Other food types like the organizer who don't want food particles touching one another are picky and too much of a perfectionist in other life activities; the adventurer who can eat anything and everything brought before him/her are fast and furious as well, but in being like this, they also must smell every flower and try out every new thing. You know those that eat loudly and sometimes annoyingly, you should watch out for them as their carefree spirit and very open mannerisms will awe you. You won't believe this, but you know those who cut their slices of yams into very small pieces before eating, they show a trait of dreaminess. That means, no matter where they are in their career and all, they dream of bigger things and you know, their minds just soar ahead of them.

Enough of eating habits and how they determine people's personality. Juliet A. Boghossian, a food psychologist gives more insights into this. It's high time we talked about food and its direct impact on our mental health. I will catch you below.

Mental illness and food

A couple of researchers in China were adept about finding the link between nutrition and mental health. So they started looking up at Western dishes and dietary patterns and although they are still scouring the deep waters of this field, they have come such a long way that they have been to say that there is a big, fat link. For one, it has been said that dietary patterns influence depression of sorts. This was duly confirmed by Linyi People's Hospital in Shandong, China. Also, the hippocampal volume (the part of the limbic system in the brain that helps in the consolidation of details from short to long term memory) for older adults.

Wikimedia by Wellcome CC BY SA 4.0

Yet another research study headed by one Maria Izquierdo-Pulidob from the nutrition department of the University of Barcelona found out that what a person eats can lead to an attention deficit problems or hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Those children who are less exposed to vegetables and fruits or the likes are more prone to ADHD symptoms. It's not the lack of nutritional valuable food that causes this, but it aids it in a way. As for those with depression, changing their dietary patterns and what they eat can help them feel better.

The last sentence infers that in more than one ways, the right sort of food helps the body not just physically or gastro wise, but also mentally. This brings you mind the example of Bonnie J. Kaplan, a researcher who stumbled on a multisupplement put together by a Dad who had a lot of mental illnesses running in his family. He wanted health for his folks without having to subject them to the side effects of psychotic drugs.

And surprisingly, his compounded vitamin drug worked especially in the treatment ofnADHD. Bonnie the researcher did not believe the foody drug could work, not until she saw for herself how the drug helped ADHD patients live better. So the point is, food goes beyond the physical process of downing down a meal, there is more. So the next time you eat or decide to take on a new diet or food type, do remember that what you eat will go a long way to determine how you live.

References

https://www.littlethings.com/eating-habits-personality-test/
https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_560d4a4fe4b076812700f04c
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/09/food-mental-health.aspx

Please do permit me to say this. I just published an eBook on Okadabooks. It's titled Half Lives. This book pretty much talks about psychological and mental issues in story form. To get Half Lives, all you need to do is download the Okadabooks app on playstore. Then go to the search button and look for Half Lives 1 if you want the paid version that is #100 and Half Lives 2 for the free version. Please do download, read and add a review so I can know your thoughts on the book. Thank you.