Why do humans have a preference to over eat or over indulge and not just be satisfied with what is needed to sustain their life and health?
In: Biology
Biologically, it’s not in your best interest to only take what you need to “break even” with what you spend. Currently, most of us (in the wealthier side of the world) are in a constant state of plenty, where eating until we are satisfied is both the ideal scenario, and the one we have access to pretty much at all times. For this group, going days without food or skipping meals is a choice, not a requirement to endure.
Your body is evolved around the idea of not having times of plenty every single day, however. The days you overeat or take advantage of a resource today, help make up for days (tomorrow, the day ofter, or so on) where you can’t take in everything you spent. Our bodies store energy by necessity, rewards high-energy food sources to make sure we are encouraged to seek low-cost rewards to maximize our chances (less energy spent seeking food is better), and so on.
It’s made all the worse because we have access to all of these in abundance, and they make food all the more enticing, and hard to cut back on. Ironically, over-indulgence is a new danger to our health when you are wealthy enough to afford choosing your meals every day multiple times a day.
Latest Answers