Eating Habits and Your Health

Most of us are aware that overeating is one of the most common and dangerous dietary habits. The other side of the coin of course is under eating. For instance, many of us may skip breakfast. Skipping breakfast creates acid in the stomach and even causes bad breath according to WebMD. Both of these eating habits as well as more negative eating habits can be traced to other influences in our lives. Some of these influences may be cultural and societal influences while others may stem from our religious beliefs.

If we look at the eating habits of people of various religions, we can easily see that their diet influences their habits. In different religions, skipping meals, or fasting, is quiet a common occurrence during various holidays. People in various faiths skip meals to show humility or atonement or as a sacrifice. Therefore, simply by the nature of these eating habits, they will be susceptible or less susceptible to specific disease and health conditions.

Our eating habits are of course affected by our ancestry as well as the culture we are brought up in as children. The way our parents' parents fed them will be the same way they fed us as children. We will learn to either love these foods out of habit or hate them altogether due to over exposure. Why we eat certain food or do not eat certain food will affect our health. For instance, those who tend to eat a primarily plant based diet rather than a meat based diet are generally healthier.

Another influence of our eating habits is society. In a fast paced society, it's very easy to look for quick food fixes like a Burger King or McDonald's. It's fast, it's cheap, it's easy and everybody else is doing it for a quick bite. On the other hand, if you grew up in a more slow-paced, rural environment, you will be more likely to take your time in preparing a meal from fresh vegetables and fresh meat in the comfort of your own kitchen.

Yet another influence of our eating habits and thus our health is the resources which are available to us. It takes money to buy food. The less you have, the more careful you are going to be with your food choices. Usually, those choices aren't going to be based on health, but on what you can get for your money. As you can see from the supply of foods available at discount warehouses, there is very little that would be considered very healthy stacked on their shelves, but you get a lot more for your money, although they do carry fresh vegetables. If you have more money to spend on food, then you have more flexibility of avoiding packaged, processed foods and spending more on high quality foods which you may get less of for your money.