food for thought.

This research has had me questioning things I haven’t considered for some years. The mind/body connection is one that I discussed to no end in university, and I find myself tempted to blow the dust off some of my old books and see how those old theories apply to my life and perspective now.

I regard my personal development as a ‘mind’ path; meaning the changes I make are in thought, as opposed to changes that take place in the material world. But how connected is my mind to my body? I know that with hip opening postures in yoga, emotions arise that I couldn’t generate with thought alone. And the way that I eat also has a huge affect on how I feel and react. Eat more nutritious foods and life becomes easier. Eat a bag of chips and you feel like a sack of shit. Yet so many of us act like this isn’t the case, even though we suspect it is.

Happiness has been a topic on my mind this week. I saw a documentary that over 5 years examined our need in North America to be happy, and asked whether the resources we often use to gain happiness have any affect at all. Turns out (surprise, surprise), winning the lottery and shopping does not grant us long-term happiness. And even more, people who have been through traumatic events have a greater chance of being happy than those who have had it pretty good. Why? Well because we develop brain patterns of recovery through such experiences so that in the future, even the smallest of hiccups are easily overcome.

So why do we as a species indulge in patterns of behaviour which have the opposite effect from what we want? According to Daniel Gilbert, it’s because our recent generations have developed a part of our brain we never had before. The pre-frontal cortex (located in the reward-system part of the brain called the frontal lobe) allows us to predict how we think things will turn out. And no one in their right mind would predict that a car accident would lead you to be happier than hitting the jackpot in Vegas.

I started this project of re-training my brain in an effort to connect my actions to long-term consequences. It seems this pre-frontal cortex was what caused my problems to begin with. I would visualize scenarios and choose the one I felt like doing more. It led to a fun life, but not a very productive one.

 In researching and training my brain these last few months, I have discovered some dramatic changes in myself already. When I ordered my coffee at the little neighbourhood cafe today, I contemplated whether eating the scone I wanted so badly would be worth the stomach ache and brain fog it would inevitably cause later on in the day. Once I caught myself in this thought pattern, it occurred to me how quickly I have developed. And I have noticed this growth even more on the weeks where I eat the foods that are right for me.

One particular superfood I have been eating has made a huge impact on my cravings. Initially I expected these cravings to be food-related, but the biggest difference I notice now is my lack of craving to shop. That’s right, the ultimate female indulgence... gone. I have even tested myself by going into my favourite stores to see if I am tempted to buy things that months ago I wanted so badly. But a strange thing has happened; I no longer want more than what I have. I feel fulfilled and excited by the things I already own, instead of the previously felt desire to consume more.

Could it be that this superfood gives my body the nutrients it needs so much that my cravings are unnecessary? Are we so malnourished as a nation that we crave things beyond even basic nutrition? Perhaps our pre-frontal cortex developed as a reaction to processed and chemically-treated foods that are rampant across North America and actually feed us very little. It seems logical that if a body is not receiving all of the nutrients it needs, it would constantly be in a form of craving, thus activating this ‘what if’ machine in our brains. Could it really be that empty foods create consumers?

By this thought pattern, we consume because we are hungry, and we make better decisions when we are not. A trip to the grocery store at dinnertime could have told me that- but I never would have thought it stretched into my never ending wardrobe.

Of course, we all develop differently and will crave different things through this process. For some, it’s sex. For others, it’s food. This whole consumption-hunger problem could be the one simple idea that solves so much for so many. Feed your brain the right foods and you could potentially cut your problems in half.

I guess I have some gratitude and love to send my nutritionist’s way... and some smart shopping to do.