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Sleep and diet are critical factors in our overall health and well-being. When we lack enough food or the food we access lacks the nutrients we need, our health gradually becomes compromised. Similarly, if one does not sleep, health will start to suffer. Prolonged lack of sleep can even lead to death.
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A study on mice published in the Frontiers in Neuroscience found that their feeding behavior changes when exposed to stress. Stressed mice tended to fixate on a single source of food, deviating from the natural tendency of mice to try...
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Having enough fresh air, food, and water is essential for survival. Living organisms are generally hard-wired to prioritize these resources. Anyone who has observed animals while eating is very familiar with how excited they can get when given food, particularly if they have not eaten for some time. In humans, the need for food, water, shelter, and other resources needed to survive physically is at the very foundation of the classic Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (e.g., Ryan et al., 2020). This hierarchy proposes that all higher needs, such as love, respect, self-actualization, and even basic safety, become inactive when the basic needs required for physical survival are not satisfied. Because of this, it should not come as a surprise that our behavior changes when we are hungry.
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It is well-known that diets lacking certain nutrients can produce very serious diseases. If one does not take enough vitamin C, scurvy will develop. Similarly, a lack of vitamin D can lead to rickets in children or osteoporosis in adults. Deficiency of iron can cause anemia. There are many other examples. However, these are all very straightforward links between a very specific disease and deficiencies of specific nutrients. Many of them have been well-known for centuries.
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Feeding is probably the most important activity for all living beings. In the wild, animals spend most of their awake time exploring their surroundings, searching for food. This typically includes studying new areas and new things in their surroundings and pursuing prey. Thanks to the easy availability of food in modern societies, most humans spend much less time searching for food. However, deciding what to eat, where to get the food from, and activities needed to obtain and eat food are an important part of human life as well.
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