A Healthy Food Environment

A Healthy Food Environment

Anyone trying to lose weight, improve eating habits, make healthier food choices, and resist the temptation of that seductive chocolate cake (or whatever guilty pleasure consistently derails your diet) knows how difficult it can be to choose the healthy choice over other options.

In fact, most counseling for weight loss stems from the fundamental understanding that we are what we eat, and we have the control to choose what we eat. While that is in fact true, recent research from the Journal of the American Dietetic Association questions the notion that all people are equally responsible for the personal dietary choices they make.

In a country where the food industry’s primary purpose is to create tasty, often high-calorie foods that bring us pleasure, even nutritionally educated people struggle with making healthy choices, often resulting in guilt and shame at overeating or gaining weight. While choice will always be a factor in any decisions we make in life, it might not be the only factor. And in the case of food choices, there might be more to it than choosing blueberries over blueberry crumb pie.

Applehans et al., the authors of the research study mentioned above, note that the pleasurable experience of eating delicious food can override our natural fullness cues, leading us to overeat even when we are past the point of hungry. They also noted that some people feel an even greater pleasure response to eating highly palatable food than other people, resulting in less ability to control their choices in the presence of such foods. The researchers compare this heightened pleasure response to the same neurological motivators (or brain triggers) that compel people to engage in gambling, alcohol, or substance abuse. The connection, per the research, demonstrates that it’s more than just personal choice that provokes people to make dietary decisions. The environment within which one makes the choice can have a profound effect as well.

What does this mean to you? First and foremost, it does not mean that you should stop holding yourself accountable for what you eat and how much you exercise each week. Even if this research implicates a neurological process that makes it more difficult for some people to resist tempting foods, it certainly does not mean that you should indulge in all of those foods and blame your biology! It does, however, uncover some ways to stay strong if you feel your willpower (or lack thereof) is the downfall of all of your weight loss efforts. If you feel powerless around some foods, then control your food environment.

 

1. If you can’t control your choices, keep those foods out of your house. Don’t even buy the cookies/sugar cereals/snack chips for your kids if you know you will be eating half of them. Your kids will be better off without them, too! Don’t grocery shop when you’re hungry, and be sure to stock your home with items you know are healthy for you and your family.

 

2. Surround yourself with healthy foods: bowls of fresh fruit on the counter, washed fresh vegetables in the fridge (you can buy them already washed and ready to eat if time is an issue), low sugar whole grain breads and cereals, nuts, etc. If you find yourself craving a snack but you don’t have potato chips or pop tarts in the pantry, you will choose a healthier option because all you have to choose from are healthy options!

 

3. Choose restaurants wisely. If you know you are powerless to control your fried shrimp addiction at the State Farmer’s Market Restaurant, don’t go to the restaurant! Same thing goes for deep dish pizza, greasy Mexican, or whatever else consistently derails your plans. Choose a food environment (ie: restaurant, in this case) that offers healthy choices, and actually order them! It might take some exploring to find new places that still satisfy you, but if you already know you will not order the steamed shrimp and vegetables at your favorite Chinese restaurant (probably the only truly healthy thing on the menu at a Chinese place!), then avoid Chinese restaurants all together.

 

The point is that if you don’t trust yourself to make healthy choices in the presence of unhealthy food, it might not completely be your fault. That does not, however, mean that you still can’t exercise control over your food environment, which will allow you to keep those tempting options from tempting you. At the end of the day (or your meal), you will feel better and more in control of your eating, and your efforts will help with your healthy lifestyle/weight loss goals, too.

 

Reference: Applehans BM, Whited MC, Schneider KL, & Pagoto SL. Time to Abandon the Notion of Personal Choice in Dietary Counseling for Obesity? J Am Diet Assoc. 2011; 111:1130-1136.

Nutrition article written by Samantha Reiff, nutrition student at CMWL