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In the movie Austin Powers, there is a touching scene in which the character Fat Bastard proclaims, “I eat because I’m unhappy, and I’m unhappy because I eat. It’s a viscous cycle.”

I realize this is a silly example, but it does address the issues of control, purpose and obesity. Does Fat Bastard have control over when he feels hungry? Hunger is a very tricky thing to judge because we almost bred to “eat our emotions.” Since babies can’t tell their parents when they are beginning to feel hungry, they essentially wait until their blood sugar drops to a level so low that it triggers an emotional change. The change is generally from a fairly stable state to a nearly hysterically stressed and unhappy state. Crying and screaming alerts parents that their baby needs to be fed ( or that their diaper needs to be changed ), they feed the baby, the baby’s blood sugar goes up, stress is alleviated and crying ceases. So, we learn to associate food with stress reduction in infancy!

As babies, this system was very effective. It worked because there was practically nothing else in our lives causing us to get stressed. Blood sugar drops due to hunger, baby gets cranky, cries, eats, blood sugar goes back up (along with an increase in serotonin, dopamine and serotonin that are found in foods), baby feels happy again.

As adults, there are a myriad of issues that could cause stress and in effect a change of chemical levels in the brain. It makes sense that we reach for a tub of Ben and Jerry’s when we have three papers to write in one night because when we were babies food made it all better, so we assume it will do the trick now, too. But what happens instead, is what fat bastard describes –a viscous cycle. We are unhappy about something and instinct tells us that in the past eating has alleviated this discomfort. But now, while eating might momentarily boost serotonin levels and put us in a good mood, we soon realize what we have done and become unhappy again.

There are a few possible explanations as to why people lapse back into their unhappy state. I think that one of the primary reasons is that people realize that they are not in control. If they were in control then they would be able to resist eating the Ben and Jerry’s because they would recognize that the feeling they are experiencing is not “real hunger” but simply stress. It is upsetting to have this experience time and time again yet never learn that you are being “tricked” into eating. It is also the case that people are attempting to use food for more than it’s intended purpose. The purpose of the behavior eating is to satiate hunger, NOT calm a stressed out college student. We try to take control and make this behavior serve another purpose but it simply does not work. Another people try to gain control is by not eating at all, a condition known as anorexia.

But while anorexics might feel like they are in control, they are ironically being held hostage by their passionate desire to control….if that makes any sense. It seems that even people who have amazing will power when it comes to food –people who maintain a healthy balanced diet etc – are not completely in control of their weight. According to an article on women’s health, metabolic “set points’ are established in the womb before we are even born. The set points are determined by ( among other things ) the mother’s nutrient consumption and the blood sugar levels that she passes on to her baby. So I guess in that sense we really do not have any control. Yet, I’m still a firm believer that with the right diet and exercise most anyone can lower their weight and fight obesity.