So I’m sitting here at Café Brazi, and I just gorged on a decadent brownie sundae with all the fixin’s, and boy do I regret it! My body feels sluggish and my mind feels hazy because my digestive tract is working so hard to break down the heavy lump of food sitting in my belly that it’s sapping the strength of both my mind and my body. What implications and didactic analogies may we draw from this characteristic “overeating” situation? Let’s jump right in, shall we?

Fueling our bodies is much more complicated than fueling something like a car because the fuel in a car (gasoline) comes out of the nozzle already refined, and therefore does not need to be broken down before the energy stored inside of it can be utilized through combustion. Our bodies, on the other hand, must break down complex carbohydrates, proteins and fats before they can be converted into ATP – the universal energy currency used at the cellular level by all living organisms. In other words, the energy stored in food can be accessed only after a certain degree of digestion. It follows from reason that understanding the nature of digestion can provide important insight into using our food’s energy most effectively.

Think about a fire. Given enough heat (around 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit) in the presence of oxygen, organic materials in wood undergo a chemical reaction called combustion wherein they give off water, carbon dioxide and heat energy. The heat energy raises the temperature of the logs and leads to further combustion, which in turn leads to more heat, etc. In this way fire is a sustained chemical reaction, constantly converting wood into heat and light.

If you were to drop a large, cold log onto a medium-size fire, you’d be sure to put it out because the new log would absorb all of the fire’s heat without rising to the point of combustion itself. That same cold log, however, fed incrementally to the same fire will have a totally different effect: smaller bits rise to the temperature of combustion much faster, thereupon they may begin giving off their own latent heat and thus begin working to sustain the chemical reaction as a whole, which we know as fire.

Now take that same idea of the big, cold log and apply it to my aforementioned brownie sundae, or any other large helping of food for that matter. Too much food piled up at once depletes your body’s energy before it has a chance to use the energy from the food. Likewise, the same portions of food ingested incrementally may be broken down, parceled out and utilized by the body with greater efficiency than all at once.

Generally speaking, you should never eat to the point of being full. Certainly you should never eat until you physically cannot eat anymore (unless it’s Thanksgiving), but even feeling moderately full is likely beyond the point where your body can quickly break food down for use. Instead of sitting down to three large meals at three specific times of the day, try snacking throughout the day whenever you feel hungry. I don’t mean to encourage people to eat and eat all day long – just pay attention to your body, and respond to what it tells you.

This snacking routine will keep your blood-sugar level steady, and will help you become generally more attuned to the metabolic cycles of your body. Focus beyond the way food tastes, and pay attention to the way food makes your body feel. You should notice some kind of difference in the way you feel after a meal, so ask yourself if it’s good or bad. I can guarantee that you will not feel as good after eating a Big Mac as you would after eating a turkey wrap.

Developing a network of experiences derived from this kind of self-reflection is utterly invaluable. I could never explain how it feels to understand your body in action, and to feel your inner heat pumping harmoniously throughout concentric cycles of complexity… sorry, I must have drifted there for a second.

Bottom line: A deeper understanding of yourself must improve your quality of life (so long as you have your own best interests at heart). So explore your temple! Learn a thing or two.

Disclaimer: I in no way mean to pose as a dietary expert. Most of what I’m telling you I picked up from friends and Wikipedia. As a well-informed consumer, you should verify everything you are led to believe.

Keven O’Toole is a junior philosophy major and can be reached at [email protected].