Meanwhile, researchers in experimental psychology, physiology, physical anthropology and
nutrition were busy analysing the human relationship to food in terms of behaviour, metabolic
regulation, nutritional requirements. What the social scientists saw as "practices", they thought of
as "behaviour". Where sociologists or anthropologists spoke of "representations" or "meanings",
they saw "wants" and "beliefs". Any given eating practice tended to be assessed in terms of its
consistency with nutritional "needs". Thus, any "habit" deemed sound in those terms was seen as
an instance of "wisdom of the body", while dietary traits devoid of any visible biological
relevance or "counter-productive" were described in often judgmental terms as "irrational
prejudice", "superstitions" or ultimately manifestations of "ignorance".