The Dark Side of Foods

 

Did you know ‘arachibutyrophobia’ (try pronouncing arachi-beauti-row-phobia) is the fear of peanut butter getting stuck to the roof of one’s mouth? I bet you didn’t hear about it earlier. But imagine how would it feel if a person had nightmares of eating peanut butter? Quite scary, frankly. Also, nutmeg is a natural hallucinogen—if taken in large quantities, it can make one hallucinate (sense something, without its presence). Then again, artificially sweetened drinks if consumed daily may lead to dementia. Believe it or not, but the chocolate was used as a currency in ancient Mexican and American civilizations, though I wouldn’t trade it for anything.


What does it all boil down to? Enough of facts.  On a more analytical note, one fact that I personally find interesting is that people with psychopathic tendencies find pleasure in eating bitter foods! Does it ring any warning bells? Imagine, I devoted a whole chapter in  ‘My Mind on a Couch’  (my book published in 2018) on my sole love of coffee. I guess, I need to re-evaluate my whole life now with this new piece of information.

Researchers at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, in 2015, surveyed nearly 1,000 Americans about their food tastes: first, figuring out their basic taste preferences, then conforming whether they have psychopathic, narcissistic, aggressive and sadistic traits, through the personality tests conducted. The results showed that people who generally loved bitter foods and drinks were antisocial in interactions. So I believe the talk was all about a bitter taste and a dark personality. Is it an astonishing revelation for you?


Although studies have indicated that taste preferences are linked to psychological constitution of a person, contrarily a few have also disconfirmed and negated the judgement passed that persons inclined towards bitter food are directly indicated of being psychopaths. Megan Willis, a senior lecturer at Australian Catholic University, in the same year, pointed out clearly that possessing psychopathic traits don’t make one a calculating criminal. There are more well established predictors of psychopathy such as a person’s genes and sex. Additionally, in an interview in 2018 Roosevelt University Professor Steven Myers stated that the findings need to be interpreted with caution as they should be checked with other parts of the world, with larger sample size, before confirming with just a 1000 people study.

Yes, it can be a bit confusing when you read some internet collected and collated research which links the ‘dark triad’ foods like black coffee, dark chocolate and G&T (gin and tonic) with psychopathic tendencies. I, for one, love dark chocolate as it is loaded with healthy fats, helps in weight loss, and has a classy taste too. Moreover, we should always check the authenticity and reliability of the source—can internet-based research be relied on this much?


So, go ahead and eat and drink what you love without fussing over developing psychopathic tendencies, as a result. Love food, love life.

Comments

  1. Dr. Veena K. Arora24 August 2020 at 03:55

    I am impressed with the balanced way in which both sides of 'dark foods' has been discussed! I consume none of these foods, so I cannot be guilty of those murders on the streets. Thanks Kid.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Technology Only25 December 2020 at 21:59

    Something i really appreciate about this is vocab used in it and conclusion on the researches ...Keep going with such nice stuff. 😋😋

    ReplyDelete

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