Thursday, April 14, 2016

Are junk food - pornography related; and does one addiction lead to the other?

Apart from terrorism and pollution, two other things  that are posing a major threat to our wellbeing are: 'Junk Food' and 'Internet Porn'.
Both are recent phenomena and insidiously deadly. They prey on our primeval pleasure seeking instincts, making it appear normal.So what are their similarities and what makes them addictive?
Colored MRI Scan Of Human Brain.Dopamine - The link: Dopamine is a neurotransmitterer that carries signal from one neuron to another. It's simple reward mechanism in our evolutionary process to make us reach for food and sex for the survival of our species.Therefore, Dopamine has always rewarded us with excitement, stimulation, and satisfaction. In short it has made life worth living for thousands of years.

But something is wrong now, that has converted God's reward mechanism into a deadly curse - and we humans are to be blamed for this. 21st century has seen a great surge in science and technology in all domains for the benefit of mankind except for some of it.

Food Engineering: It has turned into a menace posing a risk for human health and nature. Modern food is processed, laced with synthetic food colors, flavor enhancers, loads of sugar, salt, and fat that makes us crave more and more -- with no amount able to satisfy us.Modern food interventions superexcite our taste buds and create a huge surge in dopamine levels making us addicted to junk food.
Pornography: I would say this also is recent even though erotica has existed for thousands of years. Erotica is a depiction of romantic sex or representation of nobler sex. Compare that with modern pornography where sex is aggressive, selfish -- bodies are surgically operated, sex toys, cosmetics used to add zing. Watching porn videos also creates huge dopamine surge, overexcites our sex glands and creates the insatiable appetite for more.

Image result for junk food addiction and pornPorn addiction leads to social anxiety, isolation, confidence issues; creates lethargy and drives one into depression. In such a scenario, it's obvious that one would desire junk food that acts as a companion in overexciting human brain.
Both junk food and pornography are thus related and have hijacked humanity to a bottomless pit of desperation, craving, and irresistible hunger; while posing a risk for the environment. To get our dopamine fix, we have/are plundering natural resources and injecting ourselves with supernormal stimuli in the form chemical food, artificial recreations of perverted sex etc.
Harvard psychologist Deirdre Barrett argues that supernormal stimulation govern the behavior of humans as powerfully as that of animals. In her 2010 book, Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose,[9] she examines the impact of supernormal stimuli on the diversion of impulses for nurturing, sexuality, romance, territoriality, defense, and the entertainment industry’s hijacking of our social instincts. (Source: WIkipedia)
How food influences human behavior was well known in ancient Hindu scriptures since the dawn of civilization. According to Ayurveda, food is of three types:
1) Satvik: Food that is fresh, natural, sweet, less spicy/salty. Such food creates a balanced personality, improves mental clarity and spiritual awareness.Most vegetarian food consisting of grains, lentils, fruits, vegetables, clarified butter, milk, nuts and seeds fall in this category.
2) Rajasic: Non-vegetarian and other food items that are heavy, salty, spicy, pungent and sour. Rajasic food creates a personality of anger, jealousy, greed, power and prestige.Non-vegetarian food, chili, peppers, other hot spices, onion, garlic, alcohol, tobacco and caffeine are Rajasic.
3) Tamasic: Food that is stale, putrid, processed with extreme amounts of salt, sugar, flavor enhancers and preservatives.

Most of modern junk food falls into this category. Such Tamasic food  creates mood swings insecurity, lethargy, cravings, anti-social behavior. (Perfectly fits into a porn addict's personality that modern psychologists describe)
Verdict! There's no need to explain further on the kink between junk food -- porn addiction & vice versa. I am of firm belief that porn addiction would surely lead to junk food eating as porn addicts spend hours, even days hooked to porn. They also tend to be socially isolated and suffer from complexes.Whereas, junk food addiction if not directly related to porn watching, lays a fertile ground for the other addiction to sprout by changing body's biochemistry and thus preferences.
Solution: Fixing these issues is fairly simple by changing one's habits and creating new ones. It only needs dedication and patience.
Let it all begin with eating right kind of food. This is bound to create a conducive environment in the body for generating right kind of thoughts.
Pair the above with some physical activity. Walking, Running, Working out and Yoga can work miracles by re-energizing lethargic cells with a gust of endorphins.

Finally Meditation. Last Nail in the Coffin of a Rut Lifestyle. Meditation is like God's pathway to have communion with inner self and sync with the outer cosmos. Meditation calms mind by generating positive thoughts of "compassion, coherence, love, generosity, clarity and care" (Quite opposite of depictions in Porn Movies!).Just a few minutes of it can work wonders, Trust Me! Get rid of all crap in life and reclaim the true essence of living that we are all born with and which is our right.