Bet I know what you’ve been thinking about today.

Mmm hmm. And bet I know what you dreamed about last night.

Decadent fantasies … involving chocolate sauce … and whipped cream …

Huh? Oh, that’s all. Just decadent fantasies of chocolate sauce and whipped cream. People around the world may be talking sex with Sue Johanson, but they’re thinking about food. Constantly.

One recent survey of Britons found the average woman spends 23 months of her life thinking about food. Men are only slightly less preoccupied, pondering food for 19 months of their lives. In a separate study, 72 percent of men in the 18–35 age range said they spend up to two hours a day thinking about food. Nearly 65 percent said food is the most important feature of their day. And 68 percent said they’d rather give up sex for a whole week than go a day without food.

More than a third of those surveyed said thinking of their next meal is the only thing that gets them through the work day. Once people get home from work, the preoccupation extends to the subconscious with 15 percent of those surveyed saying they dream of food, and one in 10 waking in the middle of the night to raid the fridge or pantry.

What does this mean?

Guess it means we’re hungry. Or maybe not.

One-track minds

These surveys focused on people in well-fed nations, not the Third World. In fact, one survey was conducted on behalf of Just-Eat.co.uk, the United Kingdom’s top online takeaway (takeout) service. The company was curious about a significant increase in orders from male customers.

Since we’re not food-deprived, why is food always on our minds?

For one, we can’t escape it. Food is a staple of every gathering, every event, every emotional milestone from births to marriages to deaths. It’s beckoning us from billboards, magazine pages, television and Web ads. It’s lounging around our workplace break rooms and on the reception counters of the businesses we patronize. It’s waving from hospital and hotel vending machines. The inviting odors are wafting from restaurants we pass on the street, food courts at the mall, and the kitchens of our friends.

Since Western culture obsessively promotes idealized body images, many people obsess over eating healthier foods, eating less food, and even purging food or having surgery to limit food intake.

But the one thing people don’t like to admit is that food is also the one drug accepted in by every culture and every religion, available to purchase for as little as a few cents to any person of any age. Like pharmaceuticals, foods contain chemicals that can boost energy when we’re tired, calm us when we’re stressed, relax us when it’s time to sleep, and even rev up our sex drives. So when we feel lacking, naturally our minds turn to … food.

No wonder thinking about their next meal gets so many people through their work day. Surveys have shown most workers are unhappy in their jobs. Food can boost serotonin, a brain chemical that helps maintain a sense of well-being and security.

Dead ends?

Is all this thought for food a bad thing? Depends.

Anorexia, bulimia, and other potentially deadly eating disorders are thought-based, often fueled by obsessing over idealized body images. Life-threatening obesity may be the result of using food as a drug to treat emotional issues; obsessing over food becomes a substitute for dealing with other problems. People are frequently triggered to eat when they’re not hungry thanks to the nonstop bombardment of food images around them. That, too, can lead to harmful weight issues.

Food is a source of sustenance. Unless you run a restaurant or happen to be planning a meal for 20 guests, it’s nothing to obsess about. If it’s always on your mind, instead of thinking about food, maybe you should take a minute to think about why.