Calorie restriction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Calorie restriction - Essay slipThis misgiving stemmed from direct experiences of the early homo-sapiens. Large-animal eats led to grand food supply and spending at present after the kill and a period of self-denial or restriction in food usage after the food from the kill was exhausted. The period of restricted food consumption ended when the next large-animal kill occurred. This cycle of abundant food consumption and restricted food consumption led to the observation that abundant food consumption led to lethargy, spell restricted food consumption provided the benefits of heightened alertness. Eating is a pleasing experience and desisting from eating not an regimen to follow. Yet, at a time when alertness was critical to the hunt down of food and protecting the members of the community, restricted food consumption was practiced among hunters and soldiers, so that their alertness was heightened increasing the chances of a successful hunt for the hunters and success in wa rding of attacks from the enemies in the case of the soldiers (Mehta & Roth, 2009). The next step in the understanding of the benefits from restricted food consumption, prior to sophisticated science, came from the spread of the early religions and the phantasmal practices that called for fasting. Asceticism comprising of hard rigors including fasting became an extreme form of religious practice. Mehta & Roth, 2009, p.29, quoting Robert Thurman, define asceticism as the impulse in human beings to feat consciously to improve control over their habitual life processes, with a view to bettering their situation at least in a relative, and, if possible, in an ultimate way. Remnants of asceticism as a religious practice continue even today among the general populace. Fasting is a continued practice among the pursuit of several religious faiths in the modern world. For example, the Muslims fast for forty days from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, while the Christians observe restricte d food consumption during the Lenten period. Prior to the development of modern science, it was religion that provided a systematic means for humans to exert control over their human condition. It was also possible through and through established religions to communicate the observations, insights, and explanations throughout the populace and spanning generations. For instance, Ayurveda, the popular branch of cultural medicine practiced in India is steeped in such religious observations, insights and explanations, a part of it dealing with the quantum and quality of foods consumed Calorie restriction as a part of modern medical science has change by reversal more relevant in the modern world because of the abundance of food and the economic capacity to purchase and consume large quantities of food. Overeating and consumption of rich foods has become more the norm in daily life than a part of banquet during festive days of the yesteryears. As a consequence of the poor eating habits conditions and diseases associated with it like obesity and diabetes type 2, high serum cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease have become a bane of society. The beneficial impact of calorie restriction as a medical interpellation on these conditions and diseases thus become more relevant to modern society than ever before (Delaney & Walford,