How Eating Got Complicated
Dr. Laurie Santos, a professor of psychology at Yale, joins hosts Yuna Gjata and Dr. Eddie Phillips to discuss our complicated relationship with food. The conversation explores how modern society has shifted our perception of eating from basic fuel to a source of anxiety, and offers strategies to cultivate a healthier, less obsessive connection with food.
Deep Dive Analysis
11 Topic Outline
Modern vs. Ancestral Views of Food
Defining a Healthy Relationship with Food
Food's Role in Culture and Social Connection
Navigating Hyper-Palatable Food Environments
The Brain's 'Wanting vs. Liking' System
Orthorexia and Restrictive Mindsets
Impact of Narrative and Branding on Food Perception
Why Restriction Often Leads to Binge Eating
Food's Link to Emotion Regulation and Addiction
Mindful Eating Practices for Better Food Relationships
Loss of Ancestral Food Wisdom
4 Key Concepts
Healthy Relationship with Food
A healthy relationship with food is characterized by not obsessing over it, eating when genuinely hungry, choosing foods that make the body feel good, and not allowing it to consume significant mental bandwidth or generate high-arousal negative emotions like anxiety. It can involve savoring food but avoids extreme emotional attachment or preoccupation.
Wanting vs. Liking
This refers to a disconnect in the brain's reward system, where 'wanting' is the drive or obsession to pursue something (e.g., craving a baked good), while 'liking' is the actual pleasure response experienced when consuming it. Our brains often want things we don't truly like, especially with hyper-palatable foods and addictive substances, leading to a pursuit that doesn't deliver expected satisfaction.
Orthorexia
Orthorexia is a condition, though not an official DSM disorder, where individuals become excessively preoccupied with eating only 'healthy' foods. This obsession leads to significant anxiety, a feeling of dysregulation, and a constant 'verge of a binge' mentality, even if their diet appears healthy to external observers.
Diet Riot Roller Coaster
This term describes the cycle where dietary restriction often leads to binges. The brain struggles with 'don't' commands; telling oneself not to eat something paradoxically causes the brain to focus more on the forbidden item, increasing craving and making it harder to resist, ultimately leading to overconsumption.
7 Questions Answered
Historically, for hunter-gatherers, food was a utilitarian need for survival, not primarily a source of pleasure or obsession. Today, it has become a major source of anxiety, preoccupation with weight and health, and often an extreme pleasure pursuit, unlike other basic needs.
A healthy relationship with food is one that doesn't consume much mental bandwidth, where one eats when hungry and chooses foods that make the body feel decent, without excessive worry, anxiety, or extreme emotional attachment.
Our brains have a disconnect between 'wanting' (the drive to pursue something) and 'liking' (the actual pleasure from consuming it). Hyper-palatable foods are engineered to hijack our 'wanting' system, making us desire them strongly even if our 'liking' system doesn't find them as satisfying or if they make us feel unwell afterward.
No, restricting foods often backfires because the brain struggles with 'don't' commands. The act of telling oneself not to eat something paradoxically causes the brain to focus more on the forbidden item, increasing craving and often leading to a cycle of restriction followed by binges.
The narrative, setting, and branding surrounding food significantly impact our perception of its taste and pleasure. For example, wine labeled as more expensive or food presented beautifully can literally activate reward centers in the brain more, making it seem more delicious, regardless of the actual food.
While there's debate in psychology about labeling food behaviors as 'capital A addiction' like drug abuse, binge eating shares many behavioral and psychological features with addiction, such as obsessive thought patterns, inability to stop despite wanting to, and using food for emotion regulation or escape.
One approach is mindful eating, which involves paying attention to why and how you're eating (e.g., asking if you're truly hungry or eating due to emotion/boredom) and truly noticing the taste and feeling of food to re-sync the 'wanting' and 'liking' systems.
13 Actionable Insights
1. Distinguish Wanting From Liking
Recognize that your brain’s ‘wanting’ system (cravings, obsession) is often disconnected from your ’liking’ system (actual pleasure or satisfaction). Your mind might be lying about how much you’ll genuinely enjoy something.
2. Engage in Mindful Eating
Pay close attention to how food truly feels, tastes, and smells when you eat it. This practice can reveal that highly desired foods aren’t as pleasurable as anticipated and can help align your ‘wanting’ system with what you genuinely ’like’.
3. Question Your Eating Urges
Before eating, pause and ask yourself why you have the urge. Is it true hunger, boredom, excitement, or just seeing the food? This curious, non-judgmental inquiry helps identify if you’re eating for fuel or emotional reasons.
4. View Food as Fuel
Reframe your perception of food primarily as fuel for your body, rather than an extreme source of pleasure or anxiety. This fundamental shift can foster a healthier, less obsessive relationship with eating.
5. Reject Food Restriction
Avoid telling yourself ‘don’t have it’ as this often backfires by making you think about the forbidden food more, potentially leading to binges. Instead, focus on finding and enjoying healthier foods you genuinely like.
6. Craft Positive Food Stories
Enhance your enjoyment of food by creating positive stories and labels around it. For example, describing cookies as a ‘grandmother’s secret recipe’ can make them taste more delicious than just calling them ‘cookies’.
7. Create Meaningful Food Rituals
Develop rituals and cultural traditions around food, even if you’re starting new ones. This can provide alternative sources of pleasure and connection beyond hyper-palatable foods, making eating a more meaningful experience.
8. Eat Without Distractions
Minimize distractions like social media or TV while eating. Being present and mindful during meals allows you to fully savor and notice the food, which can enhance your enjoyment and satisfaction.
9. Enhance Food Setting
Pay attention to the setting and presentation of your food. Eating in a pleasant environment with well-plated dishes can make even healthier, less palatable foods taste better and be more enjoyable.
10. Prioritize Liked Healthy Foods
Instead of fixating on foods you’re trying to avoid, actively seek out and focus on the healthy foods you genuinely enjoy. This positive focus can help your ‘wanting’ system align more with nutritious choices.
11. Avoid Food Obsession
A truly healthy relationship with food is one that doesn’t consume a lot of mental bandwidth or lead to anxiety. Aim for food to be a neutral or mildly positive part of your life, not an obsession.
12. Adopt Traditional Eating Patterns
When considering a healthy diet, look to traditional ways people used to eat, as these are often healthier than modern, processed diets, regardless of specific macronutrient compositions.
13. Access Eating Disorder Support
If you need more information or help finding support for eating disorders, visit nationaleatingdisorders.org.
6 Key Quotes
I think a good relationship with food is one that you don't think about, right?
Laurie Santos
It's like the one feature like if I could change the way this part of the human brain work, I would, which is that there seems to be this weird disconnect in our brains between wanting and liking.
Laurie Santos
You would assume that our brains would be smart, that our brains would put those two circuits together, that we would want only things that we actually liked, but it turns out if you look, that is not how brains are organized.
Laurie Santos
The story sets the stage and I think that's powerful, right? I mean, I think it means that we can set our own stories.
Laurie Santos
Pretty much every available study of binge eating suggests it doesn't come from nowhere, it comes from having a mindset of restriction.
Laurie Santos
I don't think that the ancients had as complicated a relationship with food, you know, we went all the way back to hunter-gatherers, but I think we don't have to go back that far, I think even if we rewind honestly like 75, 100 years, we're already getting back to cultural relationships with food that were a lot healthier.
Laurie Santos
1 Protocols
Mindful Eating Practices
Laurie Santos- When you have an urge to eat something, ask yourself 'why?' and 'what's going on?' (e.g., Am I actually hungry? Am I bored? Did I just see the food?). Approach this with curious noticing, not judgment.
- Pay attention to how a food truly feels and the real 'liking' you get from it when you experience it. This can reveal that hyper-palatable foods aren't as delicious as your brain's 'wanting' system suggested, or that healthier foods are more enjoyable than expected.