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| Depiction of Gluttony (by Hieronymus Bosch) |
practice of stuffing one’s body with food. Science is
now proving that gluttony is deadly, but religionists
have known that right along.
Gluttony (gastrimargia) was right up there on the list
of eight evil thoughts that was composed (in Greek,
no less) by the 4th-century Desert Father monk,
Evagrius Ponticus. Mostly thanks to the writings of another Desert Father, John Cassian - gluttony not only retained its primary spot on the “what not to do” list, but also received a new Latin name (gula - later grouped with “fornication” and “avarice” and collectively renamed “lustful appetite” in English).
Almost two centuries passed before Pope Gregory I came up with his own list of Seven Deadly Sins (which
was very much like the previous lists, but no one minded since plagiarism was apparently not nearly as deadly). On his list, luxuria (which isn’t as luxurious as it sounds) leads gula by a hair. Dante, in turn, was so inspired by this latest list that he morphed it into a Divine Comedy – gula and all. According to both Pope Gregory I and St. Thomas Aquinas, gluttony can be committed in “five ways to Sunday” – these being laute (eating exotic food), nimis (eating excessive quantitites), studiose (making elaborate food preparations), praepropere (eating at inappropriate times), and ardenter (eating too eagerly).
Over seven more centuries passed before scientists came out with this supportive research. The AFP reports that “a strict diet may save the brain from the ravages of age.” This statement is based upon “a study of mice that were fed a diet of about 70 percent of the food they normally consumed.” Italian scientists discovered that this “calorie-restricted diet triggered a protein molecule, CREB1, that activates a host of genes linked to longevity and good brain function.” Previous researchers had also discovered that non-gluttonous (and possibly ascetic) mice “showed better cognitive abilities and memory, less aggression, and tended to avoid or delay Alzheimer’s disease.”
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluttony
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins
http://news.yahoo.com/strict-diet-could-save-brain-aging-study-202148422.html
Copyright December 28, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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