Food and psychology: why we eat the things we do

More than one hundred years ago the American writer and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his Medical Essays, wrote:
“I cannot help believing that medical curative treatment will by and by resolve itself in a great measure into modifications of food swallowed. The effects of milk and vegetables in the diet, of cod liver oil, are only hints of what will be accomplished when we have learned to discover what elements are deficient or in excess in chronic disease and the best way of correcting the abnormal condition”.

Well, Holmes was no dietitian but, aside from the cod liver oil (and I discount that only because it’s too rich in vitamin A), he was certainly on to something. The interesting thing is that more than a century after Holmes wrote these prophetic words, we live in a time when the vast majority of North Americans have both the means and the knowledge to insure that they are well nourished, but in many cases fail to do so. The nagging question then is, why is this so? And, of course, as is the case with many complicated questions, there are many, many possible answers.

Let’s first look at the alarming increase in “junk food” consumption. And we must be careful with our definitions here: not all food that gets the popular definition of “junk” truly fits into the category. Pizza, for example, is often referred to with this derogatory term, but in fact usually contains some of each of the four food groups. For our purposes today we’ll define a junk food as one that delivers proportionately way more calories than it does nutrients. So why do we eat so much of it…aside from the perception that it tastes good?

A study out of Britain actually found that people use food treats to stave off feelings of insecurity. The survey found that 63 percent of adults reported their self-esteem is affected when they feel overweight or out of shape but, ironically, 52 percent treated those feelings by eating chocolate! Forty-two percent said they might turn to cookies, cakes and pastries, and the same number admitted seeing fatty snacks like chips and other salty crunchies as the answer to their woes.

Dr. Peter Rowan, consulting psychiatrist at the Priory Hospital Roehampton was quoted as saying that “These people are desperate to fill the void created by loneliness, low self-esteem, depression and insecurity. You could describe this as being hungry for love”.

Certainly in my 40 plus years of being a dietitian I have had patients who would fit this description, but I’ve had more patients who seemed to over-eat out of boredom or simply because it was there…and good-tasting food is terribly seductive. The survey equated eating junk food to a form of self-medication because of the instant feelings of comfort and reward it delivers. If this is true, then we have to find a way to help people reward themselves in ways that won’t harm their health. Unfortunately we’ve learned from infancy to associate food with love. This lesson doesn’t diminish over time, in fact the gift of food is used as a reward throughout our lives. Food is central to all celebrations, even funerals. Food has become extremely detached from the requirements of nutrition and health…it is an end in itself. I think it was Moliere who wrote that we must eat to live, not live to eat…but the latter seems to be exactly what we’re doing.

So, what to do? One suggestion (not always met with great enthusiasm, but nonetheless valid) is to use exercise as a reward. More accurately, the feeling of accomplishment one gets after doing a round of exercise or jogging a mile or doing some type of workout, can serve as a reward. People have often asked me if I experience the so-called “runner’s high” and my response is yes, as soon as I’ve stopped; it feels so good to have it finished. And it does do wonders for the self-esteem. You don’t need to join a gym; you don’t need fancy equipment; all you need is the will to achieve a better level of health and get moving. You also don’t need to run; walking is great. In the words of some company’s slogan: “Just Do It”.

Another approach is to a) not have junk food in the house and b) have healthful foods handy that are satisfying and tasty. Bearing in mind that “one man’s meat is another man’s poison”, I’m hesitant to tell you what kind of snacks I find tempting, but my suggestions might give you a few ideas. I always have almonds and dried cranberries on hand…they make a great mid-morning snack. Mid-afternoon usually finds me dipping some raw veggies (carrot sticks, celery, peppers etc which I have ready in the fridge) in a yoghurt dip (tzatziki) (which you can buy ready made) and in the evening I munch on chopped up dried figs and walnuts. As I said, peoples tastes differ, so figure out what healthful combination you might find satisfying and go for it.

In terms of meal-time choices, one of the most common complaints I get from people is that although they understand that fruits and vegetables are extremely important in their diet, they get frustrated by the waste incurred when they inadvertently end up with some unidentifiable blob of green in the back of the refrigerator…another veggie that got left uneaten. If this is a problem for you, then I need to emphasize that frozen veggies are every bit as nutritious as fresh and they have the advantage of not going bad (unless there’s a power failure!) They’re quick to prepare, no wasted leaves, etc., no chopping and dicing, and with new flash-freezing technology, almost as tasty as fresh.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’ll refer once again to the value of Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating. Make sure you’re getting at least the minimum from each of the four food groups, cut way down on the junk food choices, and pretty soon there will be neither deficiencies or excesses in your almost perfect diet. I say “almost perfect” because I demand perfection of no one; least of all myself!