Information about eating disorders

For "eat" or "EAT" as an abbreviation or acronym, see EAT.

In general terms, eating (formally, ingestion) is the process of consuming nutrition, i.e. food, for the purpose of providing for the nutritional needs of an animal, particularly their energy requirements and to grow. All animals must eat other organisms in order to survive: carnivores eat other animals, herbivores eat plants, and omnivores consume a mixture of both.

While the process of eating varies from species to species, in humans eating is performed by placing food in the mouth, chewing and then swallowing it. Eaten food is then digested.

Manners are an important aspect of social eating in almost all human societies.

Eating practices

The usual accessories for everyday eating in Western cultures: table, chair and tableware.

Eating is often made into a social occasion.

Many homes have a separate kitchenroom or outside (in the tropics) kitchen area devoted to preparation of meals and food, and many also have a dining room or another designated area for eating. Dishware, silverware, drinkware for eating and cookware and other implements for cooking come in an almost infinite array of forms and sizes. Most societies also have restaurants and food vendors, so that people may eat when away from home, lack the time to prepare food, or wish to use eating as a social occasion. Occasionally, such as at potlucks and food festivals, eating is in fact the primary purpose of the social gathering.;

Most individuals have fairly regular meals. Formally known as daily patterns of eating, and commonly most eating occurs during two to three meals per day, with snacks consisting of smaller amounts of food being consumed in between. The issue of healthy eating has long been an important concern to individuals and cultures. Among other practices, fasting, dieting, and vegetarianism are all techniques employed by individuals and encouraged by societies to increase longevity and health. Some religions promote vegetarianism considering it wrong to consume animals. Leading nutritionists believe that instead of indulging oneself in 3 large meals each day, it is much healthier and easier on the metabolism to eat 5 smaller meals each day (e.g. better digestion, easier on the lower intestine to deposit wastes; whereas larger meals are tougher on the digestive track and may call for the use of laxatives). However, psychiatrists with Yale Medical School have found that people who suffer from Binge Eating Disorder (BED) and consume 3 meals per day weigh less than those who have more frequent meals. Eating can also be a way of making money (see competitive eating). Pie and sometimes cheese eating contests are one of these competitions. Sometimes people eat on picnics with family or friends.

Disorders

Main article: Eating disorder

Physiologically, eating is generally triggered by hunger, but there are numerous physical and psychological conditions that can affect appetite and disrupt normal eating patterns. These include depression, food allergies, ingestion of certain chemicals, bulimia, anorexia nervosa, pituitary gland misfunction and other endocrine problems, and numerous other illnesses and eating disorders.

A chronic lack of nutritious food can cause various illnesses, and will eventually lead to starvation. When this happens in a locality on a massive scale it is considered a famine.

If eating and drinking is not possible, as is often the case when recovering from surgery, alternatives are enteral nutrition and parenteral nutrition.

References

Location

In all mammals, the mouth is forward-facing in the face. Non-mammals have mouths in other locations (e.g.
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Mastication or chewing is the process by which food is mashed and crushed by teeth. It is the first step of digestion and it increases the surface area of foods to allow more efficient break down by enzymes.
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Swallowing, known scientifically as deglutition, is the reflex in the human body that makes something pass from the mouth, to the pharynx, into the esophagus, with the shutting of the epiglottis.
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Digestion is the process of metabolism whereby a biological entity processes a substance in order to chemically and mechanically convert the substance for the body to use.

Overview

Digestion occurs at the multicellular, cellular, and sub-cellular levels, usually in animals.
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In sociology, manners are the unenforced standards of conduct which show the actor to be cultured, polite, and refined. They are like laws in that they codify or set a standard for human behavior, but they are unlike laws in that there is no formal system for punishing
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A kitchen, at least in the western view of the word, is a room or part of a room (sometimes called "kitchen area" or in modern times in the USA "kitchenette") used for food preparation including cooking, and sometimes also for eating and entertaining guests, if the kitchen is large
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For the coarsely ground flour, see flour.

A meal is an instance of eating, specifically one that takes place at a specific time and includes specific, prepared food.
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dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level.
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Dishware is the general term for the dishes used in serving, and eating food, including plates and bowls. Dinnerware is a synonym, especially meaning a set of dishes, including serving pieces.
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Silverware or Silver is an informal term for any of several household implements:

Silver (household), candlesticks, dishware, flatware or cutlery made of sterling silver or silverplate
Silver tea service, an opulent tea set in sterling silver or silverplate.

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Drinkware or Beverageware is a general term for the class of vessels from which people drink.

Glassware is a class of objects that include drinkware made from glass as well as other items.

Stemware is a subcategory of drinkware that stand on stems.
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Cookware and bakeware are types of food preparation containers commonly found in the kitchen. Cookware comprises cooking vessels, such as saucepans and frying pans, intended for use on a stove or range cooktop.
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restaurant is an establishment that serves prepared food and beverages to order, to be consumed on the premises. The term covers a multiplicity of venues and a diversity of styles of cuisine.
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potluck is a gathering of people where each person is expected to bring a dish of food to be shared among the group.

Synonyms include: potluck dinner, Jacob's join^[1]^[2], Jacob's supper, faith supper,
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A food festival is a festival, usually held annually, that uses food, often produce, as its central theme. "These festivals have always been a means of uniting communities through celebrations of harvests and giving thanks for a plentiful growing season.
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A snack food (commonly shortened to snack) is seen in Western culture as a type of food not meant to be eaten as a main meal of the day (breakfast, lunch, dinner) but one that is intended rather to assuage a person's hunger between these meals, providing a brief supply of
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Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. Concerning that from which one fasts, and the period of fasting, a fast may be total or partial.
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Eating Disorders