From the author: In many cases, food is used by us not to obtain energy and material for the normal functioning of the body, but as a sedative. And it starts very early, even in infancy. At first glance, the function of food is obvious. The aphorism “We eat to live, not live to eat” is known to many. But from my observations of myself, from the practice of working with clients with increased weight and experience in solving weight problems, I came to interesting observations. I came to the conviction that in many cases we do not use food to obtain energy and material for the normal functioning of the body, and AS A SEDATING. It begins in childhood, or rather in infancy. Proof? Here's an example of one mom's question and other moms' answers, taken from Babyblog: Topic: Breasts. Food or sedative??? March 15, 2012, 11:12 p.m. Girls, I was wondering, at “our” age, do your babies only breastfeed, according to time or on demand, or are there others who soothe babies with breasts????? For example, we ate for 15 minutes. ago and the baby cried, became capricious and his mother offers him boobs again???? Comments: Anya, Russia, Moscow March 16, 2012, 10:00 And we have boobs and food and a sedative! True, now boobs are in the most extreme cases, we sleep together, if you suddenly wake up and get scared, then boobs, if you change the diaper, then sosa) sosa perfectly replaces boobs) Lisichka, Russia, Cherepovets, March 16, 2012, 09:49 We have both food and excellent sedative. When they were vaccinated, and then I gave him the breast, he would suck a little, turn to me and through his tears, mama-mama, and then suck again - within 10 minutes he calmed down. If he’s capricious, I give him the breast, if he doesn’t take it, then something else is bothering him, because if he doesn’t want to, he’ll only become even more hysterical. Naturally, these are not all the comments; you can look at the rest yourself. So, even in infancy, with the help of our mother, but from our own experience, we receive at least one behavior pattern (pattern): food distracts and calms. I think that there are more patterns here, but they will distract us from the topic under discussion. Food changes our biochemical processes, therefore, it reconfigures us to a different state. And it works very well. Like a tranquilizer pill. Another observation is that the state of satiety, satiety and overeating causes inhibition of thought processes and reduces the amplitude of emotions. That is why those who like to eat well are mostly calm, good-natured or phlegmatic (slow) people. Therefore, if you want to calm down, fill your stomach! And if you have a lot of anxiety, eat to your heart’s content. Moreover, the more anxiety, the more you need to eat! Here's a recipe for excess weight. Another feature is that an excited person will most likely chew food poorly, swallow in chunks, and the feeling of fullness will come later, and overeating more often. I myself am very familiar with the phenomenon of automatic, unconscious eating. I eat and think about something, worry and sometimes I don’t even feel the taste. Has this happened to you personally? If so, then I think that we can easily assume that they are at least slightly overweight and have problems with digestion... And mothers, mostly out of ignorance, create another trap for their children. The words “big” and “small” have several meanings in Russian. How often do mothers, stuffing spoon after spoon into their baby’s mouth, tell him: “If you eat, you will grow big”!!! Oh, how much harm there is in this phrase!!! Eat - otherwise you won’t grow. Eat to become an adult. Eat to become independent and resist parental violence (pushing food into your mouth when you don’t feel like eating). But the meaning of the phrase “If you eat, you will grow big” does not end there. It also says: big means adult and strong; to be big is to be safe. And the anxious child now knows how to escape. The bigger your body, the more security you have. And the way is simple - eat, eat and eat. Another very important point that appears later, perhaps from the period.