what goes in...

I've been thinking quite a bit recently about an issue I can't quite find the right word for.  It started while thinking about the marijuana use general and on a personal level, but led to thinking about all the substances I put in my body: foods, alcohol, tobacco, etc.

There are borders between what nourishes the body and what brings people enjoyment, and between what brings people enjoyment and what people become addicted to in often harmful ways.  Like many people I'm familiar with, I'm on the border between enjoyment and addiction.  My big problem is with sweets, but with other junk foods as well.  Knowing that, I'm interested in getting closer to the border between nourishment and enjoyment.

Ideas like asceticism and simple living interest me, but they are too stark.  I'm not sure of the value in using only what is necessary, or in regular fasting.  The main problem I see is not being able to take enjoyment in the things that are necessary and not being able to have things if their only attribute is that they are enjoyable.  On the other hand, using things only because they are enjoyable, especially in excess or in preference to what is nourishing, takes away from the enjoyment that the majority of things can bring.

There is value, I think, in enjoying something just because it's enjoyable.  But when I eat a large bag of candy or a huge soda, am I really getting much value from it?  Am I really enjoying those things, or am I just fulfilling a destructive craving I've created for myself?

There are also the socio-economic and ecological impacts of excess.  How does the abundance here influence the scarcity elsewhere?  How does the homogeneous variety of our food system impact our ecosystem?

When it comes to drug use, what are the differences between foods and drugs?  Do the more natural drugs nourish me in some way (nutritionally, mentally) more than the man-made ones?  Do the more man-made foods nourish me or only bring me enjoyment?  If I take some food or drug, will it change me in a way that I won't be able to go back on?

I'm mainly left with questions and more questions, but there are a couple of things I can say for sure: I do want to get to a point where I'm putting things in my body mostly for nourishment (mentally and physically) and being able to take enjoyment in that; and I don't want to add extra substances to the mix with so many unanswered questions, I'd rather start removing the excessive ones.