Joyful vs. Fearful Food Beliefs

Interesting isn’t it – how many dieters have food beliefs based in fear?  Oh my goodness, can you imagine what this does to your body chemisty while eating?  I found this informative article today that may be a clue to why some people can eat donuts joyfully and be healthy while others eat donuts fearfully and reap different consequences:

Permeating the human brain are 400 miles of blood vessels – providing nutrients, fuel, and oxygen, while removing waste and excess heat. The capillaries in this vascular system also comprise what is called the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a protective network unique to the central nervous system.

Present in all vertebrate brains, the BBB is laid down within the first trimester of human fetal life. Although far from perfect, it does shield neurons from some poisons, viruses, and other toxins in the bloodstream – as well as from unpredictable fluctuations in normal blood chemistry.

Stress compromises the BBB. Stress can dramatically increase the ability of chemicals to pass through the blood-brain barrier. During the Gulf War, Israeli soldiers took a drug to protect themselves from chemical and biological weapons.

Normally, the drug should not have crossed their BBBs, but scientists learned that the stress of war had somehow increased the permeability of the BBB. Nearly one-quarter of the soldiers complained of headaches, nausea, and dizziness – symptoms which occur only if the drug reaches the brain.

So you might ask yourself, “Whatever my food choices, can I make them out of true joy today?”