We are what we eat bbc

Future foods: What will we be eating in 20 years’ time?

By Denise Winterman
BBC News Magazine

Volatile food prices and a growing population mean we have to rethink what we eat, say food futurologists. So what might we be serving up in 20 years’ time?

It’s not immediately obvious what links Nasa, the price of meat and brass bands, but all three are playing a part in shaping what we will eat in the future and how we will eat it.

In the UK, meat prices are anticipated to have a huge impact on our diets. Some in the food industry estimate they could double in the next five to seven years, making meat a luxury item.

«In the West many of us have grown up with cheap, abundant meat,» says food futurologist Morgaine Gaye.

«Rising prices mean we are now starting to see the return of meat as a luxury. As a result we are looking for new ways to fill the meat gap.»

Insects

Insects, or mini-livestock as they could become known, will become a staple of our diet, says Gaye.

It’s a win-win situation. Insects provide as much nutritional value as ordinary meat and are a great source of protein, according to researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. They also cost less to raise than cattle, consume less water and do not have much of a carbon footprint. Plus, there are an estimated 1,400 species that are edible to man.

Gaye is not talking about bushtucker-style witchetty grubs arriving on a plate near you. Insect burgers and sausages are likely to resemble their meat counterparts.

«Things like crickets and grasshoppers will be ground down and used as an ingredient in things like burgers.»

The Dutch government is putting serious money into getting insects into mainstream diets. It recently invested one million euros (ВЈ783,000) into research and to prepare legislation governing insect farms.

A large chunk of the world’s population already eat insects as a regular part of their diet. Caterpillars and locusts are popular in Africa, wasps are a delicacy in Japan, crickets are eaten in Thailand.

But insects will need an image overhaul if they are to become more palatable to the squeamish Europeans and North Americans, says Gaye, who is a member of the Experimental Food Society.

«They will become popular when we get away from the word insects and use something like mini-livestock.»

Sonic-enhanced food

It’s well documented how the appearance of food and its smell influence what we eat, but the effect sound has on taste is an expanding area of research. A recent study by scientists at Oxford University found certain tones could make things taste sweeter or more bitter.

«No experience is a single sense experience,» says Russell Jones, from sonic branding company Condiment Junkie, who were involved in the study. «So much attention is paid to what food looks like and what it smells like, but sound is just as important.»

The Bittersweet Study, conducted by Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University, found the taste of food could be adjusted by changing the sonic properties of a background soundtrack.

«We’re not entirely sure what happens in brain as yet, but something does happen and that’s really exciting,» says Jones.

Sound and food have been experimented with by chef Heston Blumenthal. His Fat Duck restaurant has a dish called the Sound of the Sea, which is served with an iPod playing sounds of the seaside. The sounds reportedly make the food taste fresher.

But more widespread uses are developing. One that could have an important impact is the use of music to remove unhealthy ingredients without people noticing the difference in taste.

«We know what frequency makes things taste sweeter,» says Jones, also a member of the Experimental Food Society. «Potentially you could reduce the sugar in a food but use music to make it seem just as sweet to the person eating it.»

Companies are also increasingly using the link between food and sound in packaging. One crisp company changed the material it used to make packets as the crunchier sound made the crisps taste fresher to consumers. Recommended playlists could also appear on packaging to help enhance the taste of the product.

Jones says the use of sound is even being applied to white goods. Companies are looking into the hum fridges make, as a certain tone could make people think their food is fresher.

Lab-grown meat

Earlier this year, Dutch scientists successfully produced in-vitro meat, also known as cultured meat. They grew strips of muscle tissue using stem cells taken from cows, which were said to resemble calamari in appearance. They hope to create the world’s first «test-tube burger» by the end of the year.

The first scientific paper on lab-grown meat was funded by Nasa, says social scientist Dr Neil Stephens, based at Cardiff University’s ESRC Cesagen research centre. It investigated in-vitro meat to see if it was a food astronauts could eat in space.

Ten years on and scientists in the field are now promoting it as a more efficient and environmentally friendly way of putting meat on our plates.

A recent study by Oxford University found growing meat in a lab rather than slaughtering animals would significantly reduce greenhouse gases, along with energy and water use. Production also requires a fraction of the land needed to raise cattle. In addition it could be customised to cut the fat content and add nutrients.

Prof Mark Post, who led the Dutch team of scientists at Maastricht University, says he wants to make lab meat «indistinguishable» from the real stuff, but it could potentially look very different. Stephens, who is studying the debate over in-vitro meat, says there are on-going discussions in the field about what it should look like.

He says the idea of such a product is hard for people to take on board because nothing like it currently exists.

«We simply don’t have a category for this type of stuff in our world, we don’t know what to make of it,» he says. «It is radically different in terms of provenance and product.»

How is a hamburger made in a laboratory?

Algae

Algae might be at the bottom of the food chain but it could provide a solution to some the world’s most complex problems, including food shortages.

It can feed humans and animals and can be grown in the ocean, a big bonus with land and fresh water in increasingly short supply, say researchers. Many scientists also say the biofuel derived from algae could help reduce the need for fossil fuels.

Some in the sustainable food industry predict algae farming could become the world’s biggest cropping industry. It has long been a staple in Asia and countries including Japan have huge farms. Currently there is no large-scale, commercial farm in the UK, says Dr Craig Rose, executive director of the Seaweed Health Foundation.

«Such farms could easily work in the UK and be very successful. The great thing about seaweed is it grows at a phenomenal rate, it’s the fastest growing plant on earth. Its use in the UK is going to rise dramatically.»

Like insects, it could be worked into our diet without us really knowing. Scientists at Sheffield Hallam University used seaweed granules to replace salt in bread and processed foods. The granules provide a strong flavour but were low in salt, which is blamed for high blood pressure, strokes and early deaths. They believe the granules could be used to replace salt in supermarket ready meals, sausages and even cheese.

«It’s multi-functional,» says Gaye. «And many of its properties are only just being explored. It such a big resource that we really haven’t tapped into yet.»

With 10,000 types of seaweed in the world, including 630 in the UK alone, the taste of each can vary a lot, says Rose.

Творческие проекты и работы учащихся

В ученическом исследовательском проекте по иностранному языку на тему «WE ARE WHAT WE EAT» автором была поставлена цель, наглядно показать как питание влияет на наше самочувствие, заставить людей думать о своем здоровье и о том, что они едят. Учащаяся школы хочет доказать, что мы то, что мы едим.

Подробнее о проекте:

За время работы над проектом по иностранному языку «WE ARE WHAT WE EAT» было проведено исследование, почему мы едим много фаст-фуда, рассмотрен вопрос о том, быть или не быть вегетарианцем. Также в рамках проекта был проведен опрос учащихся школы для того, чтобы определить, насколько правильное питание распространено среди школьников.

Content

Introduction
1. The aim, tasks and the hypothesis
2. Useful properties of products
3. The fattest and the slimmest nations
4. Why do we get fat and how to deal with it?
5. Why do we eat lots of fast-food?
6. To be or not to be a vegetarian?
7. Conducted survey and conclusion.
8. Right diet for school children.
Conclusion
List of used literature

Introduction

Unfortunately, nowadays few people pay attention to their health, so people have lots of bad health habits. They arephysically inactive, sleep too little or too much, don’t wash their hands before meals, don’t visit a doctor.

Also I want to say, that in the modern world teenagers eat a lot of sweets, snack, drink alcohol and energy drinks. Adults eat more fast-food than healthy home-made food.

Because of thesebad habits and unhealthy diet different diseases appear, people die.

I like eating sweets and fast-food, but I try to eat less of it. Of course, I have tasted alcohol, but I don’t drink it. I haven’t tasted energy drinks and I don’t want to.

Every day I have breakfast and dinner with healthy home-made food. Only during classes or after school I have a snack. I want to be healthy and every day I try to take care of myself and my health.

When I was 7years old, I dreamed of being a doctor. I wanted to become a dietitian, help people with stomach diseases, make the useful diet for them. Now I am 15 and I want to be an engineer. Of course, desire to help people with digestive problems has not disappeared, so I will keep track of what my family and I eat.

I want my project to make people think about their health and what they eat. I want to prove that we are what we eat.

Prove that right diet is the way to high-quality and long life.

Do we eat to live?

The slimmest nation

They eat vegetables and seafood. Another important point is the small portion size.

Scientistsclaim that the body of Japanese has the enzyme which allows them to digest algae. This enzyme also allows them to take necessary trace elements and protein from them.

The fattest nation

It is amazing that it isn’t the USA. The fattest people on the planet live in Nauru – it is a small island in the South of Pacific Ocean.

Almost 95 per cent of population is overweight. The fact is that 90 per cent of territory of this country isn’t suitable for plowing so in Nauru there is practically no food industry.

All this forces the state to import processed and sugar-rich food.

Why do we get fat and how to deal with it?

We live in the era of fast-food culture. We are always in a hurry. We have no time to relax and enjoy a meal. We want to eat now and we want to eat fast.

Every day a new McDonald’s restaurant opens somewhere on our planet. Soon American food will take over the whole world.

Another reason is lack of exercise. We spend too much time in front of our computers and TV – sets. We walk less, because we prefer to use cars or public transport. Yes, many people nowadays are exercise crazy, they spend hours in gym – and then they rush to have a good snack!

What is tasty isn’t always healthy.

Doctors say that chips and pizzas are fattening, Coca-Cola spoils our teeth, coffee shortens our lives.

If you go on eating too much, you will become obese, and obesity leads to heart disease, diabetes and stroke.

Some scientists believe that food influences not only our bodies but our spirits as well.

Foods with lots of additives, fat or sugar can make you violent and anti-social. Natural foods like fresh fruit and vegetables which contain lots of vitamins and minerals can make you more intelligent, optimistic and energetic.

So think twice before you start eating.

Also I want to add if you don’t want to be an obese person you should follow some similar rules: keep to a healthy diet, do morning exercises every day and, of course, be active and lively.

Why do we eat lots of fast-food?

There are a lot of temptations for people in the modern world. Cafes which sell fast-food, have become places for meeting and rest. But you shouldn’t eat lots of this harmful food, because effects can only bring you harm.

To be or not to be a vegetarian?

To be or not to be a vegetarian is up to us. Each person has his own opinion on this question.

I don’t know how it is in other countries, but scientists claim that in the far East people, who eat animal food are healthier than vegetarians. Because of the climate and temperature differences, people, who live in the far East must eat meat and fish.

I believe that if your appearance is important for you then you can safely become a vegetarian. But if your health is important for you than I advise you to eat animal food.

I can’t live without meat. Every day I eat animal food. My dinner and lunch must contain meat. Only for breakfast I can eat something sweet, such as porridge or pie. All my family members eat meat, and we don’t want to give it up.

Conducted survey andconclusion

I conducted the survey among 62 students. On average 4 of them had difficulty to answer some questions, so I allowed them to answer 50/50 or sometimes.

Based on the results of this survey, I realized that school children try to keep healthy lifestyle, but it isn’t easy.

For example, students forced to have a snack between meals, because of huge number of lessons and additional classes. But the good news is that almost allof the students play sports.

I want to say, that it isn’t easy to be healthy, but everybody tries to be strong, beautiful, smart, lively and, of course, healthy.

So try, try, try and you will have success!

Right diet for school children

School children have to eat.

You should know that it is necessary for students…

Conclusion

To eat healthy and homemade food, take care about ourselves, do physical exercises, be positive and energetic – there are habits of a healthy person.

Not everyone can care of himself, because it is a hard job. Especially, now, when we have so little time just to sit down and enjoy your meal or do exercises in the morning.

We are always in a hurry somewhere, trying to do everything, while at the same time forgetting about ourselves. It is important not to make these mistakes.

For example, if you have tired and sleepy appearance, are overweight, violent and anti-social, people can think, that you are lazy, don’t want to take care of yourself and even don’t try to fight with your health problems.

So when we see such a person, we can say, what lifestyle he has and what he eats. This example proves, that only we can decide how to live and what kind of lifestyle to lead.

We are what we eat!

The title of this article should already hint to the readers that it is about food and why in the certain periods of our life we want something special. Here I will try to answer the question: what emotion or state is associated with a particular food in the certain moments of our life? What I am certainly not going to write in this article is about the period of pregnancy, because it is a special state of woman, in which the desire of her yet unborn baby can prevail, who is still inside the mother, however has already showed his or her desires. My article is just an attempt to encourage readers to analysis and research of themselves, and is not absolute dogma or axiom.

I will apply a bit (quite a bit) to classical medicine to describe the connection between emotions and quality of food, but I will not go deep, because now there is quite a lot of information about this subject in the Internet. If you want to learn more, feel free to find it! Therefore, at the moment when a specific emotion arise, a particular hormone is produced in human body, and in order to reduce its level, person subconsciously is looking for the ways to deal with it, including food. Moreover, the opposite effect is possible: some food promotes production of specific hormone to stimulate a certain emotional state. The traditional Indian medicine Ayurveda, which is one of the varieties of alternative medicine, also confirms this.

For example, when person wants meat or other solid food, which requires their jaws work hard to chew, it points on pent-up aggression, wrath or anger, and also it could be a feeling of self-affirmation, achievement of a goal or desire to defend himself, for which a powerful emotional and physical charge is needed. Such people are stubborn and assertive. Metaphors for this state could be: «to cut the throat», «to show fangs», «savage grin», «chew and spit out», «increase meat on bones», «show who is a boss here», «take height». Look at athletes-weightlifters when they «take» a new weight – they grip jaws and growl. Such food is necessary for organism in the period of overcoming difficulties in life or of great intelligent load.

Sunflower seeds, chips, waffles, pickles and other food that «rustles» or crunches – all these are fear eating. There are many horrors in the silent harbor. Do you notice how baby-rattles in some magical way can calm kids with their sound? It is the same: if something softly is ringing, clanking or rustling near you, it seems like «I am not alone here, someone is nearby, there is life around me and it calms me down».

Sweets, buns and something sugary-sweet point on desperate desire to orally satisfy the need for a love, joy, positive emotions, acceptance and care, to reduce the level of anxiety. For babies such food is mother’s milk; if it presents, then «mother is near, she loves me, accepts me and cares for me». When mother is nearby, it is always a key to a good mood for little children. «Sweet life» without worries and hassle…

The sour taste is a taste of envy and jealousy, resentment and pessimism. «Why are you so gloomy?», «keep your chin up», «cheer up» these people often hear these words, because they have lost thirst for their life, they are sad, envious and jealous of «others’ happiness».

The bitter taste is associated with dissatisfaction, disappointment and bitterness from the contradiction of internal to external. «Due to all this, it becomes even bitter»… It helps to experience stress and enhances the desire for change, adds the strength to move forward.

Astringent and tart taste of the food immerses a person into the self-analysis, as if he or she needs a pause in the life to turn to internal «self», to reflect.

Rude and greedy people prefer fat and fried food.

Fussy and tense persons like salty food, as if everything is «insipidly and tastelessly» for them, and they are looking for reinforcing their taste of life, interest to it and searching of themselves».

Spicy and savory are tastes of drive and activeness, they can point on lack of emotions and impressions in the relationships with others, thirst for excitement and extreme. Punchy people prefer it. Synonyms of these tastes in speech could be «acuteness of life and relationships», «acute situation», «hot guy» or «spicy girl», «fire-woman», «passionate relationships».

Still there is such a peculiarity, when person eats something and doesn’t notice taste of food, its quality, and doesn’t feel the measure in the eaten food – all these are signs of humiliation, shame, guilt and resentment. These feelings are rather strong, and everyone wants to run away from them, to switch and move on it quickly. For these reasons person makes usual and simple action – eating, due to what he escapes from the power of these emotions.

«Eating» to fight stress and as a way of coping with emotions is acceptable of course, but in moderate way. If you understand this and can find the essence of this mechanism in your life, you will be able to express your emotions in another ways. Then you will enjoy food consciously and fully, using it as a way to fill up your life force, get a charge of energy, enjoy taste and quality of your food and farther follow your way of life. After all, we eat to live, but we do not live to eat. Read, learn, explore.

Love yourselves and your body and be healthy!

How We Eat: 4. Eating as a Family

In the last programme in a four-part series about how we eat now, Sheila Dillon explores the reality and the myth of eating as a family.

In this final programme of the series How We Eat, Sheila Dillon explores eating as a family, the reality and the myth. As working hours increase and with both parents working, it becomes more and more difficult to sit down together with the children for meals. Separate meals, often in front of the tv, are more the reality in Britain today.

But in this programme Sheila meets two families who believe that there is nothing more important than eating together. The Parker family have two children of their own, but they have also fostered dozens of children, some with special needs. Crucial to the success of their extended family, they believe, is the fact that they sit together every night at six o’clock round the table to eat. Sheila Dillon joins them to find out why this structure is so important to the children they look after. She visits too the Brooks family, who sit down together every Friday night for the Jewish Friday night dinner. Emma Brooks married into Judaism and found it strange at first; she reflects on the demands but also the benefits of this ritual meal.

So what exactly can family meals do for us? Sheila talks to best-selling child psychologist Steve Biddulph whose books («Raising Boys», «Raising Girls») are in 4 million homes, and finds out why he thinks eating together is crucial if you want to solve conflict and raise happy children. He gives his top tips for successful family meals. But many people, Sheila included, remember dreadful family rows over the childhood dinner table. With historian Chris Kissane, the programme explores whether the family dinner, like the perfect family itself, has always been more of a myth than a reality.

Weirdly True: We Are What We Eat

Research shows that there is a direct correlation between spicy foods and aggression.

Food is fuel for our bodies. But it doesn’t just give us energy, it can also impact our moods. Knowing this, how can we make better food choices?

Research shows that there is a direct correlation between spicy foods and aggression.

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here.

What do you turn to when you’re feeling low?

If you’re like me, your answer will include “something sweet” — a chocolate glazed doughnut, a tub of ice cream, or a box of chocolates.

We eat it, and almost instantly, we feel better. These good feelings arise partly because pleasure hormones (like dopamine) are released in our brains when we consume food high in caloric value.

It’s not just sweet things that have an impact on our mood either. Findings show that organic food makes us happy and hopeful, while consuming food high in protein improves motivation and concentration.

But food doesn’t always improve our moods. Sometimes it can evoke negativity.

A few years ago I read an article about how Malaysian prisons don’t provide carbonated drinks to inmates who have a history of violence because if they’re consumed when someone is agitated, that person is more likely to have an outburst.

All of this science got me thinking: Are we really what we eat? And if we are, how might that impact the way we behave in certain environments — for example, at work?

I decided to reach out to some researchers who study this topic to find out.

Are we really what we eat?

Professors Raj Raghunathan (marketing professor at the McCombs School of Business, Austin), Rishtee Batra (marketing professor at Villanova University, Pennsylvania,) and Tanuka Ghoshal (marketing professor at Baruch College, City University of New York) have conducted three studies that found there is a direct correlation between spicy foods and aggression.

I reached out to Professor Raj Raghunathan to learn more about their research on the way foods can impact our mood, and how we can use this knowledge to our advantage.

First, can you tell me a little more about your study?

Raj Raghunathan: Though ancient texts like the Bhagavad Gita — one of the most important Hindu scriptures — and practitioners of alternative medicine posit that spicy foods may increase aggression, their intuitions have never been scientifically tested. So we carried out a series of three experiments to test this theory.

In the first study, participants first reported spice levels of food they generally consumed on 100-point scale (1 = “not at all spicy” and 100 = “very spicy”). They then rated their own personalities on aggression, using Forgays et al.’s (1997) trait-aggression scale (which had items like, “I consider myself to be hot-headed”) as well as on other traits (considerate, impulsive, dependable, reliable, interesting) unrelated to aggression.

We found a positive and significant relationship between consumption of spicy food and self-reported propensity for aggression — like feeling “hot-headed” and “easily irritated.” There was no correlation between spice consumption and peaceful traits like “considerateness.”

The second experiment established causation. In this study, another set of participants consumed either a plain tortilla chip or a tortilla chip dipped in habanero salsa (one of the hottest chilis in the world). Both sets of participants then read a passage about someone named “Jay,” who behaves in an ambiguously aggressive manner. Participants rated Jay on a variety of dimensions, including aggressiveness, assertiveness, and impulsivity. Participants who had consumed the spicy salsa perceived greater “aggressive” (but not greater “assertive” or “impulsive”) intent in Jay. This result suggests that after consuming spicy food, we are likely to perceive greater aggression in others. The study also confirmed, via a sentence-completion task, that aggression-related words, like “hit” came to mind more easily for participants in the habanero condition than were non-aggression related words like “hat.”

In the final study, participants were shown pictures of several foods that varied in terms of spice levels and asked to rate them in terms of spiciness. Then, participants read the passage (about Jay) used in the previous study, and similarly rated his aggressive intent. Thus, participants in this study were merely exposed to pictures of spicy food — and didn’t even consume them. Yet, findings revealed that exposure to spicy food triggers aggressive intent in participants.

All three studies confirm, at some level, that the popular saying, “you are what you eat” may be accurate: If you consume hot and spicy food, there’s a greater chance that you will be “hot headed.”

Our results support a larger family of studies that suggest the types of food we eat can significantly affect our mood. For instance, one set of studies conducted years earlier found that we are more prone to altruism after consuming sweets. Another more recent study found that eating spicy food promoted risk-taking in participants.

Why does food affect our mood in so many different ways?

Our gut or gastrointestinal tract (also known as our second brain) is home to billions of bacteria. The food we eat directly affects our gut health (or the balance of good and bad bacteria) and influences the production of neurotransmitters (our body’s chemical messengers that are constantly carrying messages from the gut to the brain).

Ninety percent of serotonin receptors — our mood regulators that influence our biological and neurological processes such as aggression, anxiety, cognition, mood, and sleep — are located in the gut. So, for example, when we eat something sweet or sugary, it produces dopamine (the feel-good hormone) and serotonin (the happiness hormone). The neurotransmitters carry those chemicals to the brain, and we feel happy.

The same goes with other kinds of food. Foods can trigger physiological changes associated with emotions. Consuming hot food increases discomfort and sometimes even pain, whereas, as we saw earlier, foods high in caloric value can trigger positive moods, and consuming protein can improve motivation and concentration. Certain foods contain chemicals or ingredients that by nature trigger how parts of our bodies function — in some cases resulting in an increased heart rate or sweating due to a rise in body temperature.

For example, capsaicin, which is what makes spicy food taste hot, is irritating to the taste buds. Our taste buds contain something called VR1 receptors. Their job is to detect heat. When we eat something spicy, they get activated, triggering sweating or discomfort.

But do aggressive thoughts mean aggressive behavior? If I consistently consume spicy food, will I become aggressive, hyperactive, or hot-tempered?

We do believe that aggressive thoughts are suggestive of angry behavior, but we don’t have conclusive proof. It was not in the scope of our study either. Hence, we aren’t sure that consistently consuming spicy food can make you an angry person. On the one hand, you can expect that given our results. On the other hand, if people adapt to the level of spice they eat regularly and certain foods no longer taste spicy to them, you could expect that there would be no effect on their behavior.

Knowing this, how can make better choices about what I eat at work? Should I be eating certain foods if I want to be more alert, more assertive, more focused?

Because different foods trigger different moods, one could strategically choose foods that evoke desirable mood-states. For instance, consuming a snack high in fat or sugar content may help increase positive mood and hopefulness (and thus confidence), which could be useful before making a presentation — but you should also be wary of the comedown.