We do not think too much when it comes to food.

We just “feel” most of the times. Don’t we?

When we order something, the package attracts us with such magnetism. How many times have you clicked online to buy a pizza, that bucket chicken or called that exotic restaurant after seeing an advertisement on a newspaper? In psychology, we refer to it as visual appeal.

Also, there is another element called conforming — where people eat certain types of food at certain places just to get noticed by the society. Often, they fall prey to such unhealthy eating habits that spell doom on the long run.

If you like the person or the ambience, you will most definitely like their food. Your emotional and spiritual attachment is what makes the prasad from the temple, get that heavenly taste.

Humans are slaves to patterns. If you are exposed to the same food stuff, you will like it one day. Familiarity conditions the tastebuds.

All of us deem our mom’s cooking the best because hers was the food that warmed our tastebuds from our birth. We unconsciously compare the new foods and evaluate it against our original tastes.

Surprisingly, the cues that led to one’s eating will sometimes be more dominant than the taste itself. Have you noticed that only pet animals get obese and not animals out of human influence? Good parenting holds the key.

You may be the most loving parents, but do not over feed your children. Observe your child’s pattern of eating, and fit their diet with a balanced mix of what is good, healthy and tasty. Condition yourself. Eat what you think is right consistently. You will least likely be drawn away from good karma.

The writer is Prof and Head, Dept. of Psychiatry, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Center, Chennai and President of the Indian Psychiatric Society