In general terms, eating (formally, ingestion) is the process of consuming something edible, i.e. food, for the purpose of providing for the nutritional needs of an animal, particularly their energy requirements. All animals must eat other organisms in order to survive: carnivores eat other animals, herbivores eat plants, and omnivores consume a mixture of both. It has been suggested that Diet (nutrition) be merged into this article or section. ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subregnum Agnotozoa Placozoa (trichoplax) Orthonectida (orthonectids) Rhombozoa (dicyemids) Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) (radial symmetry) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Bilateria (unranked) (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Orthonectida (parasitic to flatworms, echinoderms, etc. ... In biology and ecology, an organism (in Greek organon = instrument) is a living complex adaptive system of organs that influence each other in such a way that they function as a more or less stable whole. ... The lion is a well-known, truly carnivorous member of the order Carnivora. ... A deer and two fawns feeding on some foliage In zoology, an herbivore is an animal that is adapted to eat primarily plant matter (rather than meat). ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... An omnivore (from Latin: omne all, everything; vorare to devour) is an animal that eats both plants and meat. ...

While the process of eating varies from species to species, in humans eating is performed by placing food in the mouth and then swallowing it, with chewing often occurring between these actions. Eaten food is then digested. Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin for wise man or knowing man) under the family Hominidae (the great apes). ... Sagittal section of nose mouth, pharynx, and larynx. ... Swallowing, known scientifically as deglutition, is the reflex in the human body that makes something pass from the mouth, through the esophagus. ... Mastication or chewing is the process by which food is torn and/or crushed by teeth. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

Eating practices

Eating is often made into a social occasion.

Most homes have a kitchen or kitchenette devoted to preparation of meals and food, and many also have a dining room or another designated area for eating. Dishware, silverware, drinkware for eating and cookware and other implements for cooking come in an almost infinite array of forms and sizes. Most societies also have restaurants and food vendors, so that people may eat when away from home, lack the time to prepare food, or wish to use eating as a social occasion. Occasionally, such as at potlucks and food festivals, eating is in fact the primary purpose of the social gathering. Image File history File links 20051129-MelbMeetup-Dining. ... Image File history File links 20051129-MelbMeetup-Dining. ... A kitchen is a room used for food preparation. ... For the coarsely ground flour, see flour. ... A dining room is a room for eating. ... Some dishware Dishware is a general term for objects—dishes—from which people eat or serve food, such as plates and bowls. ... Starch-polyester disposable cutlery Cutlery refers to any hand utensil used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food. ... Glass stemware Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Drinkware Drinkware is a general term for the class of vessels from which people drink. ... cast-iron iron enamel stainless steel The cooking pan is a type of food preparation utensil commonly found in the kitchen which includes many more specific cooking vessels such as saucepans and frying pans (or fry pans). ... Toms Restaurant, a restaurant in New York made familiar by Suzanne Vega and the television sitcom Seinfeld For other uses, see Restaurant (disambiguation). ... A potluck or potluck dinner is a gathering of people for a meal where the participants are expected to bring food to be shared among everyone at the gathering. ... A food festival is a festival, usually held annually, that uses food, often produce, as its central theme. ...

Most individuals have fairly regular daily patterns of eating, and commonly most eating occurs during two to three meals per day, with snacks consisting of smaller amounts of food being consumed in between. The issue of healthy eating has long been an important concern to individuals and cultures. Among other practices, fasting, dieting, and vegetarianism are all techniques employed by individuals and encouraged by societies to increase longevity and health. Leading nutritionists believe that instead of idulging oneself in 3 large meals each day, it is much heathier and easier on the metabolism to eat 5 smaller meals each day. (e.g. better digestion, easier on the lower intestine to deposite wastes; whereas larger meals are tougher on the digestive track and may call for the use of laxatives) Eating can also be a way of making money (see competitive eating). A snack food is seen in Western culture as a type of food that is not meant to be eaten as part of one of the main meals of the day (breakfast, lunch, supper). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Healthy diet. ... Fasting is the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food and in some cases drink, for a period of time. ... Measuring body weight on a scale Dieting is the practice of eating (and drinking) in a regulated fashion to achieve a particular, short-term objective. ... Vegetarianism is the practice of not eating meat, including beef, poultry, fish, and their by-products, with or without the use of dairy products or eggs, and including products derived from animal carcasses, such as lard, tallow, gelatin, rennet and cochineal. ... A laxative is a preparation used for the purpose of encouraging defecation, or the elimination of feces. ... Sonya Thomas and Tim Janus at the 2005 Midway Slots Crabcake Eating Competition Competitive eating involves the consumption of large quantities of food in a short time period – typically 12 minutes or less. ...

Eating in infancy and childhood

Eating as mentioned above is originally done to gain energy and nutrients from the food consumed. In babies, however, it is the first process that leads to pleasure or satisfaction and therefore is very important for mental development as well. The following ideas are inspired by the essay “The Psychoanalytic Study of Infantile Feeding Disturbances” by Anna Freud. Some of the things that parents do to cause eating problems in their children include: weaning too abruptly, forcing the use of utensils, not letting them eat the quantity of food they desire, dictating when and what the children will eat. These actions can lead to children associating eating with negative feelings and then therefore not wanting to eat or being very picky. Children may also see food as a battle between child and usually mother and if they refuse to eat they feel they are winning especially since mother wants so badly for them to eat. These problems may persist into latter stages of life or until children are given more freedom on food choices. When the pleasure of eating is taken away problems result. So it is important for parents to ensure that their actions do not ruin the experience for their children and lead of eating problems. A human infant The word Infant derives from the Latin in-fans, meaning unable to speak. ... Pleasure is a positive sensation, which by analogy to pain, can be physiologically described as either peripheral or central (euphoria). ... The term satisfaction can refer to: (I Cant Get No) Satisfaction, a Rolling Stones song, which has also been covered by several artists, including: The Residents, released as a single (Satiafaction b/w Loser=Weed) in 1976 and 1978. ... Anna Freud (December 3, 1895 - October 9, 1982) was the sixth and last child of Sigmund and Martha Freud. ... A breastfeeding infant Breastfeeding is the practice of a woman feeding an infant (or sometimes a toddler or a young child) with milk produced from her mammary glands, usually directly from the nipples. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Disorders

Physiologically, eating is generally triggered by hunger, but there are numerous physical and psychological conditions that can affect appetite and disrupt normal eating patterns. These include depression, food allergies, bulimia, anorexia nervosa, pituitary gland misfunction and other endocrine problems, and numerous other illnesses and eating disorders. For the 1983 horror film, see The Hunger. ... The appetite is the desire to eat food, felt as hunger. ... Clinical depression is a state of sadness, melancholia or despair that has advanced to the point of being disruptive to an individuals social functioning and/or activities of daily living. ... An allergy can refer to several kinds of immune reactions including Type I hypersensitivity in which a persons body is hypersensitised and develops IgE type antibodies to typical proteins. ... Bulimia nervosa, more commonly known as bulimia, is a psychological condition in which the subject engages in recurrent binge eating followed by intentionally doing one or more of the following in order to compensate for the intake of the food and prevent weight gain: vomiting inappropriate use of laxatives, enemas... For other uses, see Anorexia nervosa (disambiguation). ... The pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea that sits in the small, bony cavity (sella turcica) at the base of the brain. ... The endocrine system is a control system of ductless endocrine glands that secrete chemical messengers called hormones that circulate within the body via the bloodstream to affect distant organs. ... This article needs more context around or a better explanation of technical details to make it more accessible to general readers and technical readers outside the specialty, without removing technical details. ...

A chronic lack of nutritious food can cause various illnesses, and will eventually lead to starvation. When this happens in a locality on a massive scale it is considered a famine. It has been suggested that Diet (nutrition) be merged into this article or section. ... A female child during the Nigerian-Biafran war of the late 1960s, shown suffering the effects of severe hunger and malnutrition. ... A famine is a phenomenon in which a large percentage of the population of a region or country is so undernourished that death by starvation or other related diseases becomes increasingly common. ...

If eating and drinking is not possible, as is often the case when recovering from surgery, alternatives are enteral nutrition and parenteral nutrition. Drinking is the act of consuming a liquid through the mouth. ... A thoracic surgeon performs a mitral valve replacement at the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, November 1990. ... In pharmacology and toxicology, a route of administration is the path by which a drug, fluid, poison or other substance is brought into contact with the body 1. ... Total parenteral nutrition (TPN), also called hyperalimentation, is the practice of feeding a person without using the gut. ...

Wolfing

For dietary, religious, or alternative medicine purposes, some people may choose to consume more food than necessary, even after uncomfortably full. Such practices is called wolfing, named after the wolf. Wolfing may lead to obesity or malnutrition if the food or substance consumed delpletes nutritional stores in the body. Chronic wolfing may also be a sign of binge eating disorder. It has been suggested that Complementary and alternative medicine be merged into this article or section. ... Wolf Wolf Man Mount Wolf Wolf Prizes Wolf Spider Wolf 424 Wolf 359 Wolf Point Wolf-herring Frank Wolf Friedrich Wolf Friedrich August Wolf Hugo Wolf Johannes Wolf Julius Wolf Max Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf Maximilian Wolf Rudolf Wolf Thomas Wolf As Name Wolf Breidenbach Wolf Hirshorn Other The call... Binge eating disorder is a psychiatric disorder in which a subject: periodically does not exercise control over consumption of food eats an unusually large amount of food at one time eats much more quickly during binge episodes than during normal eating episodes eats until physically uncomfortable eats large amounts of...

See also

• Competitive Eating
• Dietary supplements
  • Amino acids
  • Minerals
  • Nootropics
  • Nutraceuticals
  • Vitamins
• Dieting
• Diets (list)
• Digestive System
• Exercise
• Food
  • Food (portal)
  • Food (topic list)
  • Functional food
• Health
  • Health (portal)
  • Healthy eating
    • Healthy eating pyramid
• Life extension
  • Life extension (topic list)
• Nutrition
  • Nutrition (topic list)