Brain Bulletin #28 - Mindless Eating

Your brain makes more than 200 food related decisions everyday. Toast or cereal? Cream or skim? Soup or hamburger? Take a candy or not? Part of it or all of it? Kitchen or car? And on...

Most of these decisions you're not even aware of. Much of the time you don't realize how much you're eating, what you're eating, or why you're eating at all.

Your eating decisions are based largely on what is around you. Our brains are profoundly affected by particular environments. How these environments influence our eating decisions may surprise you. Scientists say that this results in mindless eating.

Food affects your brain and body in important ways. This is obvious. What is not so obvious are the factors that influence your eating decisions. In the next Brain Bulletin I will tell you what some of these factors are.

In the meantime, for the next week or so, start to notice all the food related decisions that you make. Pay attention to your attention. Be aware of your awareness. Be conscious of your consciousness. Develop a couple of theories.

Also, here is a question to ponder:

 What would you do if the soup bowl you were eating from had secretly been rigged by scientists to always stay half full? In the next Brain Bulletin I will tell you.

Your brain has an interesting relationship with food. Stay tuned!