Seven Sins: Gluttony cause of obesity epidemic, says William B Irvine

Down To Earth (DTE) speaks to scientists and authors to take stock of what we know so far about the emotions of pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth; the historical debates around them and the critical gaps in our understanding.

In the tenth part, DTE speaks to William B Irvine, professor emeritus at Wright State University, US, and author of eight books. Irvine has written a chapter, “Gluttony: Religious and Philosophical Responses to the Obesity Epidemic” in the book, Obesity Prevention.

Q. How has the world’s view on gluttony changed over the years?

A. Views on gluttony have changed dramatically. If you go back 500 years, when the church, at least in the western world, played a dominant role, then gluttony is one of the seven sins. The church said that you might enjoy being a glutton while you are alive, but when you are dead, you will be punished. We have these paintings of gluttons in the depths of hell being consumed by other creatures. This was during a time when most people could not be gluttonous for the simple reason that they faced shortage of food.

If you go back in the eastern world, the Buddha experimented with this and tried to put himself on a very minimal diet. And in the end, he drew the conclusion that the proper thing to do is not eat too much, not too little—just the right amount.

If you go back far enough, to the savannas of Africa, people lived a day-to-day existence. You did not have a refrigerator, you could not even store food because you would have to carry it by hand to wherever you were going. So, whenever there were opportunities and when food was there, you ate a lot with the expectation that it was going to be a long stretch before you got access to food again.

But, of course, we have transformed into this incredible world where you can get what you want, whenever you want, and in abundance. However, there are still places where starvation is a problem.

Someone living on a really low income can also be a glutton. They tend to focus their attention on highly processed foods. They are going to find things that are cheap and eat a whole bunch of those because that momentary pleasure of eating that tasted good.

The fact is that food keeps you alive, gives you the energy to go through another day of life. Food tastes so good and some people can get carried away by that. They get seduced by that. It is also one of the ways of leading a good life. But the secondary consequence of that is people gaining weight.

Now, we do not want to be judgmental of people. But, I think, gluttony drives you to eat. We have been captured by food and it is driving us to do something that is arguably not good for us.

Q. What are your thoughts on the role of the food industry in changing the view on gluttony?

A. You can make a lot of money off people’s gluttony. You can keep them eating your product. You can entice them to buy and consume your product by making it sweet and fattening. When I was young, we had minimal access to processed food. This would have been in the 1960s. There was one cereal called Captain Crunch, which was really crunchy and high on sugar. My mother brought home a box of it. And I remember over the course of one weekend, I consumed the whole box because it was just like candy. This can become an important part of your daily diet so much so that people could eat it as a snack.

So, producers might say that as long as people are perfectly happy to buy our product, we are going to do what it takes to seduce them, in a gastronomical sense, to want and buy this product. So, they are driven by that. And then if you look at the healthy food options, they want people to buy their product, too. But it does not have the same effect. They cannot just take a carrot and add sugar and fat to it. It does not work that way. So, they are limited in what they can do. But if they could, probably, they would.

Q. In a chapter authored by you in the book Obesity Prevention you argue that gluttony is the root cause of obesity. There are studies that link obesity or binge eating to other factors like genetic disposition, sedentary lifestyle or loneliness. What are your thoughts on that?

A. I would argue that we have two epidemics going on simultaneously. The obesity epidemic, which is a very well measured and documented state, and the other thing is what I would call the gluttony epidemic. I also believe you can have one without the other.

But I would like to suggest that in the US, gluttony is the root cause of obesity. People have access to food, and that is good. You could have access to food and still practice some self-restraint from consuming something that is sweet and fattening. So, gluttony is the cause of the obesity epidemic. So, I would make that claim. If you ask me why people make eating fattening foods such a key part of their lives, I do not have an answer.

Q. You also talk about a lack of philosopher’s perspective on gluttony in a research paper. Why is this important?

A. Philosophers can provide a different viewpoint. Doctors, I do not think, use the term gluttony. And in modern times, philosophers have almost no interest in gluttony. In that paper, I looked up a philosophical index on how many papers have been written about gluttony. There were only three. So, it is something that we do not talk about, and is left for religion. Modern philosophers have very little interest in talking about it.

It is not a good idea to allow something to control your life. There are a number of things that can take control of your life. Examples include short-term fear, sexual appetite and appetite for food or drugs.

As a rational being, you should want to be in control. You should want to be at the steering wheel. If you go back into classical philosophy, you can find in all the different philosophy schools, people have said that food can be abused. You can eat too much and for the wrong reasons. And if you do that, you have given up control over yourself.

Q. Given the similarities between greed and gluttony, are the two closely linked?

A. One can be greedy about a number of things. But gluttony is specific since it involves food, and maybe, drinks as well. A glutton could be greedy. They would be somebody who had a lot of food and they would not want anyone else to have it because it would upset them, even though they had more food than any human could sensibly need. The two terms are close, but a different concept.

Q. There are also papers on energy gluttony. How is this different from gluttony?

A. It is used to describe people who use more energy than is needed. In the US, there are these giant pickup trucks that consume a lot of energy. They use energy to an extreme level, in part, to display their use of energy. The thing between energy and food gluttons is that you hurt yourself with the latter by increasing your risk for other diseases. I mean, if you are on public health insurance, I imagine you hurt the public as well, and you hurt your family as well.

But an energy glutton is hurting the environment by contributing to climate change. So, why do they do that? I guess they enjoy it. So, it is one of these things that are pleasant, but come with bad consequences for the people around.

Another difference is that food gluttons may feel good at first and then later start feeling bad when they gain weight. For energy gluttony, I guess, it is a little bit harder to explain because it might feel good to go around in a car with a big carbon footprint, it might be part of their personal identity, and they might be getting some kind of kick.

(as told to Rohini Krishnamurthy)

This is the eleventh of an 18-part series.

This was first published as part of the cover story of the 16-31 May, 2024 Print edition of Down To Earth