Respect of self & others: A basis for sustainable healthy habits

I used to think that I wasn't healthy because I had not figured out what supplements to take.  Then I thought I discovered it was all about eating healthy food, not supplements.  But after teaching nutrition in the medical schools at Stanford and UCSF for years, I realized that I was internally making decisions that lead to unhealthy eating no matter how much I knew about nutrition.  These decisions were made by my need for dopamine, seratonin and natural opoiods, meaning a reward response in my brain from food.  This reward response is the mechanical basis of our sense of safety and survivability, which can be even more important to us than happiness: Most are unhappy when they are at risk of heart disease, stroke, or diabetes, but our need to feel safe that results from dopamine when eating (particularly sugar but also fat) can be overwhelming.  I recently watched a friend take heart medications while eating a burger with fries. 

Respect for one's own health is based on respect for one's own personal value, a concept that originates in our earliest years of life.  A lack of self respect can be manifested in many ways: Requiring that your children eat breakfast but not eating any yourself, eating junk for lunch because you don't think you have time, or over-eating dinner or dessert to reward yourself for not taking care of yourself all day, a pattern called "night-time eating syndrome".  Without a stronger dopamine response to CARING ABOUT YOURSELF, the dopamine response to sugar, fats and calories will win.  You have to fight dopamine with dopamine.

One of the interesting things about our a reward response driving unhealthy behavior is that there is a global parallel.  I believe that respect for oneself is fundamental to respect for others.  In the below talk by Sam Harris, he argues that ethical behavior towards others can be scientifically defined as the actions that reduce suffering, making ethics less intangible.  After hearing the talk, I agree.

Comments

[Courtney]

I think this is my favorite entry on your blog yet. Love the correlation of "respect for ones own health" being based on respect for your personal value. I'd never thought of it like that, however it makes sense once I read it.