What's your eating personality?

1. The Earth Child
One of the vegetarian Earth Child's faces is that of the stereotypical herbivore: a gentle soul who eats fresh and wholesome foods (and garlic in everything), grows her own herbs and wears comfortable shoes. But this is just one of several personalities crowded into the Earth Child's kitchen. There's the passionate and emotional artistic type who is strong-minded in her opinions and politics, which are often green. There's the rigid herbivore who eats within a scientific, medical and nutritional framework and views types of foods as good or bad. And there's another type who eats within a religious or moralistic framework. This person doesn't eat for enjoyment. For her, eating, drinking and pleasure are repressed. This person eats food to live, not for pleasure.

It's best to be an enlightened vegetarian, says Susie Langley, a registered dietitian and nutrition consultant in Toronto, and to learn how to get all the nutrients your body needs. Herbivores can have low levels of iron, zinc, vitamin B12 and protein.

2. The Wolf
The red-meat lover, or the Wolf, is typically perceived as male, aggressive, volatile, macho, possibly a workaholic and "definitely in touch with his latent carnal desires," says Michael Smith, host of "The Inn Chef" on Food Network Canada. Meat was rare and difficult (and risky) to come by in hunter-gatherer societies, so it's no wonder that our bodies tingle with hunger at the smell of meat on the barbecue. The 100,000-year-old message -- that eating a plateful of ribs is equated with being strong and macho -- reeks of power and dominance over nature, says Fieldhouse. Whether men really salivate more for meat than women do -- because they have more muscle mass -- is anybody's guess. But an adult carnivore today who eats more than the recommended 175 to 250 grams of meat or alternatives a day is no lean and hungry predator. Typically, he's a middle-aged, apple-shaped male with a high-stress job, a sedentary lifestyle and an increased risk for various diseases. He needs a healthier lifestyle overall, says Langley, who recommends a more balanced plate that consists of one-third lean meat or alternatives, and two-thirds grains and fresh fruits and vegetables.

3. The Bottom Feeder
An indiscriminate and constant muncher who will eat whatever's quick and handy, the Bottom Feeder always has snacks in her cupboard and candy in her desk drawer. At times she's bored or distracted, orally fixated and eats without thinking. Can we blame cavemen on this one? A little. Fat was hard to come by and salt was rare in hunter-gatherer societies, says Galef, so we have deep cravings for both. Now they're readily available in foods such as potato chips, which are mostly fat and salt, so we eat too many of them.

It's better to blame the busy fast-food world we live in today: many Bottom Feeders are rushed, overwhelmed by life and addicted to convenience. And watch out for psychological triggers: junk food may be comfort food (especially if it was used as a reward in childhood), or it may be all a person thinks she deserves -- it's bad, she's bad. Don't go there. Bottom Feeders need more balance and structure in their eating habits (and possibly in their lives) and definitely more fruits and vegetables, says Langley.

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