Zombies are terrifying creatures. They’re mindless, irrational, and constantly HUNGRY. There’s no reasoning with them. You either run as fast as you can away from them or you take ’em out. Those are your two choices.
If you’ve heard humanity being compared to zombies (especially recently), you’re not alone. There are lots of people walking around so distracted that they run into solid objects while texting, get bitten by sharks while trying to take a selfie, and blow right through stop signs to check their social media.
As much as I hate to admit it, folks, we have become a bit zombie-like. When it comes to food, that’s no exception. In fact, it may actually be one of the primary reasons we are so distracted, irritated, sick, and unhappy!
Food affects mood, and food affects behavior.
Here’s how the food industry is tricking you into buying their products (and what it’s doing to your mental health)!
1. You are blindly following a subliminal influence.
From what I’ve seen in movies and on TV, zombies are pretty single-minded creatures. There’s a drive within them to come after the living and eat them. Whatever subliminal influence causes that, it sure is effective!
This is kind of how our minds respond to food advertising. We may think we make food choices based primarily on what tastes good, but research has proven that this is not the case. In fact, according to a study published in BMC Public Health, televised food advertising has a very notable effect on our food choices.
In this study, participants were randomized into one of four distinct experimental conditions:
- Exposure to food advertising with a cognitively demanding task.
- Exposure to food advertising with a not cognitively demanding task.
- Exposure to non-food advertising with a cognitively demanding task.
- Exposure to non-food advertising with a not cognitively demanding task.
The results revealed that those exposed to food advertising chose 28 percent more unhealthy snacks than those who were exposed to non-food advertising. What’s even more interesting is, those who were in the group with food advertising and a cognitively demanding task chose 43 percent more unhealthy snacks!
Think of the last time you ate while doing nothing else. It hasn’t happened in a while, has it? You’re either working, driving, on your phone, checking social media, or catching up on some Netflix favorites.
In other words, your mind is usually occupied with some kind of cognitive task and performing both of these activities at once has been proven to send a subliminal message to your brain to eat more unhealthy food even if you’re not aware of it!
2. You’ve become mindless and irrational.
These days, there is certainly no shortage of violent outbursts, anxiety attacks, depression, and other behavioral and psychological issues. While current political and environmental factors may certainly account for some of that, food can also be a hidden culprit.
Ever seen an angry mob? They’re kind of like zombies. All working as a unit to push, yell, shove, and attack to get their message across, and it can get really scary.
Believe it or not, food plays a big role in human behavior. Highly-processed foods, white flour, white sugar, and fast food can trigger extreme dips and spikes in blood sugar, which can lead to chronic blood sugar imbalance. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) has been linked to anxiety, aggression, alcoholism, irritability, violence, and even mental illness!
According to a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry:
“A higher national dietary intake of refined sugar and dairy products predicted a worse 2-year outcome of schizophrenia. A high national prevalence of depression was predicted by a low dietary intake of fish and seafood.”
On the other side of that coin, scientific research has also shown that certain nutrients can reduce or even completely reverse the effects of certain mental health conditions.
During an extensive research study performed by Dr. Julia Rucklidge, Clinical Psychologist at the University of Canterbury, NZ, micronutrients were administered to participants via capsules for a period of eight weeks. The study revealed that participants experienced significant improvements in depression, mania, mood swings, and ADHD symptoms.
According to self-reported experiences among certain participants, there was also a significant reduction in arousal and behavioral responses in conjunction with the improved ability to regulate anger.
Furthermore, two participants in the study were able to successfully quit smoking, and two other participants with severe OCD were in remission by the end of the trial!
How incredible is that?
3. Your survival instinct overrides every else.
OK, back to zombies for a moment. What drives them? What motivates them? Hunger. Ravenous hunger. What drives us? Well, in a more complex way, the same thing.
As human beings, we have desires, needs, and ambitions. However, whatever our ambitions or goals may be, we cannot focus on those things if we’re starving. And, truthfully, many of us are even though we eat three meals a day plus snacks.
How is that possible?
Well, here’s the thing. If you’re eating fast food, bagged and boxed snacks, and the like, you’re constantly putting nutritionally-deficient foods into your body. Not only do these foods lack the filling fiber of their original form, your body quickly burns up simple and refined carbs, causing your blood sugar to quickly spike and crash.
These low glucose levels trigger feelings of hunger, which, in turn, make you reach for more carbs.
To put it another way, when you do bite into a healthy, nutritious, full-fat food, your tongue sends a signal to your brain that something satisfying is on its way down to your stomach.
However, when you bite into something that only tastes like it’s a full-fat food, you’re basically lying to your stomach. Once the “food” gets down there, you’ll only crave more because you haven’t actually nourished yourself.
This is why low-fat diets do not work!
When your basic human needs are not being met, your survival instinct will always be on, overriding everything else. Even if you’re not thinking about it, at least a small part of you will always be seeking nourishment, and that can cause irrational, irritable behavior that keeps you feeling on edge.
4. You actually do need brains to survive.
Like a zombie, you need your brain to survive. (Your own brain, in your own head, functioning at its best.) You also need brain food. That is, food that keeps your brain and central nervous system healthy.
Research has shown that blueberries help protect the brain from oxidative stress, which may help reduce the effects of age-related cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Wild-caught fish such as salmon are rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, which have been shown to be very beneficial to the brain.
This is because the two main omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have important biological functions in the central nervous system.
Your brain depends on glucose for fuel, but because it can’t make its own, it relies on you to eat foods that help keep those glucose levels stable. Beans are a good source of essential nutrients, and they are packed with protein, which helps keep your blood sugar levels stable. When you have stable blood sugar levels, you have a more stable mood.
To recap, zombies are mindless, irrational creatures controlled by instinct and fueled by hunger. If you were to encounter one, you’d be in grave danger. (See what I did there?) Grave, in this sense, meaning ‘monumental’ and ‘serious’, but I suppose if you encountered one, you could very easily end up in a grave.
Since we’re on the subject, if you continue to eat foods that do damage to your physical and mental health, you may end up in a grave much faster than you planned.
So, don’t let yourself be turned into a zombie. Fuel your body and mind with the nutrition it needs, and uncover your healthiest, happiest, most successful self!
~ Health Scams Exposed
