You Are How You Eat

by Mark R. Vogel

On the show Sex and the City, Kim Cattrall, who played the lascivious Samantha once quipped: "How we are in bed is how we are in life."

Her theory being, that a person's love making style would be indicative of their general approach to life. I would imagine though that there are other microcosms in our day to day lives that are predictive of our overall personality.

Since this is a food column you probably already know where I'm going with this. Therefore, reinventing Samantha's axiom, could we say that "How we are at the dinner table is how we are in life?"

And by the "dinner table", I'm metaphorically referring to the entire spectrum of our food-related behavior, i.e., how we select, prepare, and consume food.

What we like, what we don't like, who we eat it with, where we eat, how we eat, and all the personality quirks that manifest themselves in our gustatory repertoire.

There are many dimensions to the human psyche and just as many varied perspectives for analyzing it. Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychology, postulated that the mind was composed of three dimensions, the Id, the Superego, and the Ego.

The Id is our impulses, especially sexual and aggressive. It is the source of our desires, our passions, and our most base animal instincts. It wants what it wants and it wants it now.

Conversely, the Superego is our conscience; an amalgamation of values, ethics, and moral prescriptions. A primary source of guilt, it battles with the Id. The Ego is the reality based part of the mind. It endeavors to serve both masters.

It seeks to fulfill the Id's demands while taking into account the dictates of the superego and the parameters of society. Employing Freud's theory then, think about the eating habits of people you know, or yourself even. Are you Id, Superego or Ego dominated when it comes to food?

Are you on a diet? Do you feel guilty when you consume a food that's not within the confines of your diet, such as foods high in fat, calories, sugar, carbs, etc?

When you do decide to splurge do you have trouble enjoying a forbidden food for fear of what it may be doing to your waistline or your health? Or do you have a moral problem with how certain animals are treated before slaughter?

Maybe you think it's immoral to even kill animals for food? If you've answered yes to any of these questions you are indeed a candidate for a Superego-endectomy. I feel sorry for those in this camp.