FOOD PSYCHOLOGY

Article Contents

how does our eating habit affects our mind?

Just like an engine requires fuel to run, our body requires food to function. But eating food nowadays is not just about getting energy to survive through the day. What, how and when we eat is a representation of our culture, habits, emotions and environment.

Today, food is vastly and easily available. There is a wide variety of food we can consume in different forms. Cooking has become an art. Therefore, we’re not just motivated to eat when we are hungry, we are also influenced by several other factors that affect our eating pattern.

Our food habits are influenced by culture, evolution, society, family, socio-economic status, as well as individual and psychological factors.

Let’s have a look at some of these factors and why we should be mindful of our eating habits.

Food and emotions

People tend to binge eat when they are feeling low. This eating is not motivated by one’s hunger but is motivated by one’s emotions. Feeling negative emotions makes one crave for more high fat and high sugar food as it provides a false sense of comfort temporarily.

A person feeling low tends to snack more on such unhealthy food options, which can cause a person to gain unwanted weight, which in turn leads to negative body image. On the other hand, the kind of food we eat also determines how we feel.

People who have diets that are high in vegetables, fruits, unprocessed grains, seafood, and low in lean meats and dairy are said to have a 25-35% less risk of depression as compared to others whose diets contain more of processed and refined foods and sugars. Eating healthy helps in keeping a good mood.

Food and social factors

People around us affect how much we eat. When we are surrounded with more people, we tend to eat more. Also, the context or surrounding in which we are eating also influences our eating habits. The time of the day, the people and the surrounding influences whether we accept or reject certain kinds of food.

When we order food from a restaurant, the server’s health also plays a role in what we order. If the server is plump, it sort of acts as a permission to overeat. Sometimes, what we order is also influenced by what other people are ordering. We would either want to order the same thing as them because it looks delicious, or we might order something different from them to stand out and have a sense of unique food choice.

Food and environmental factors

The environment in which we consume food affects how much we eat. When there are a lot of distractions in our surrounding, for example, eating while watching TV or playing video games, we are not completely aware of how much we are eating, and therefore, we tend to overeat. As much as our hunger plays a role in how much we eat, additional factors such as the serving size and the size of the utensils we us to eat influence our food intake.

A research had found that even though French people consume more fats then Americans, their waistline is narrower because their serving size were smaller, that is, they used small bowls and therefore their food consumption at a time was lower.

Apart from that, the lighting of the area where we eat, the advertising and packaging of food also plays a role. If we consider a particular food to be fancy, we tend to believe that it will taste good. This in turn affects how it tastes to us.

Food and the individual

Our eating is mostly determined by our habits than our preferences and intentions. Trying not to think about eating gives way to more cravings which might lead us to eat more. What is important is to try and moderate how much we eat rather than forcing ourselves to not eat. Some people tend to perceive that eating healthy means that we can eat more.

But this is not true because eating more can lead to more weight gain. It is a misconception that healthy food can be eaten in large quantities. In the end, the body will have to breakdown all the food. On the other hand, people think that fatty foods should be completely avoided. That is not true. Fats are also required by the body but in moderate amounts.

Eating too much fats can lead to unnecessary weight gain, but eating the right amount will provide our body with the necessary fats. Trying to completely avoid any food group will cause more cravings, which will lead to unhealthy eating pattern.

One might feel guilty about not being able to control their cravings which will have an effect on the mood and can lead a person to binge eat. Unhealthy foods are usually very delicious and high in fats. Therefore, a person on a fat free diet will avoid any food that tastes good because they associate it with weight gain.

How brain processes food?

When we eat something with a positive mind set, the hypothalamus in the brain sends this positive input via signals which start the process of digestion. Our metabolism will be active and the food will be properly broken down to give its benefits.

If we consume any food with guilt about it, the hypothalamus processes this negative input and sends signals accordingly to the body to start the process of digestion. This leads to an incomplete metabolic breakdown of food which in turn leads to more negative effects of the food to be seen.

The brain processes the guilt and shame associated with eating as a stressor and therefore the activation of the stress responses leads to a negative and incomplete metabolic breakdown of food. So even if a person is eating healthy, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will be fit because if they are constantly feeding negative thoughts to their brain about their eating habits and their body weight, the full effects and benefits of the healthy diet will not be visible.

Conclusion

It is important to keep in mind how thoughts, context, emotions and people affect our food habits and how that influences our body weight. If we’re around someone who constantly criticizes us about our weight, we’ll develop a negative body image which will affect our eating pattern.

Similarly, if we constantly think negatively about the food we eat, we’ll be unable to reap its full benefits no matter how many times we change our diet. Not paying attention to what we’re eating will not help us to control how much we’re eating. Therefore, to maintain a healthy eating habit, it is important to pay attention to what our body needs.