Conscious Eating: Prioritizing Health and Fostering New Habits Beyond Rewards

A recent research paper exploring the reformulation of recipes with spices to enhance flavor—thereby reducing salt and saturated fat intake—sparked a thought: Will people refuse food that isn’t tasty? My belief is no, and my own experience of eliminating sugar for many years stands testament to this.

Humans have an innate inclination towards sugary, fatty, and salty foods due to their signaling of energy and their ability to trigger dopamine release in the brain’s reward system. This explains the widespread affinity for foods like sugar and burgers. Intriguingly, people also consume foods that defy our evolutionary mechanisms designed to shield us from toxic bitter substances, such as coffee. Observations of individuals adhering to unseasoned salad diets, which initially seem challenging, further support this.

The underlying secret is conscious eating, a principle I discovered through my own weight loss journey after altering my diet. I categorize my evolving eating behavior into three stages: eating with will, eating with mindfulness, and eating with consciousness.

Eating with Will: This stage involves allowing eating habits to be shaped by culture and environment. The human condition, bound by our body’s physical sensory limits, gradually molds our immediate surroundings into our entire world. This, in turn, necessitates the development of behaviors that ensure survival and adaptation to our micro-society. Our dietary choices, often influenced by parental teachings and supermarket offerings, not only adhere to this adaptation but also partially represent our identity. During this phase, our dietary practices are steered by both our genes and cultural upbringing. Previously, I consumed ample white rice, high-salt dishes, and sweets without questioning my diet, simply because it was the norm.

Eating with Mindfulness: During middle to high school, the prevailing beauty trend was skinniness. Despite having a healthy BMI, I strived to be skinny through exercise and eating less, which proved ineffective and always left me hungry after studying. I realized dieting was not the right weight-loss method for my genes. This realization ushered me into mindful eating—seeking ways to lose weight easily without enduring hunger. The real change occurred in college when I lived away from my parents and had more discretionary spending. I began paying attention to my food choices, considering their impact on my weight and how to achieve maximum satisfaction with minimal food. Gradually, I developed a mindset that focused on the benefits derived from my diet.

Eating with Consciousness: Exposure to the diverse food traditions and ingredients in the US introduced me to the third stage—conscious eating. A prime example is my journey with coffee. Rarely consuming it in China due to its resemblance to traditional Chinese medicine in taste and having no need for caffeine due to youthful vitality, I attempted to acclimate to it amidst the prevalent American coffee culture. Although I can’t say I adore it, I have developed a palate for its nuanced flavors. This illustrates that while our brains may be hardwired for certain preferences, like sugar, there is a level of plasticity that can alter our behaviors. The key is deriving something from what you eat to reinforce the pathway to forming a new habit, whether it be the alertness from caffeine or envisioning a slender figure while consuming an unseasoned salad.

Consciousness vs. Willpower

It’s crucial to highlight that in this context, consciousness diverges from willpower. The distinction lies in heartfelt recognition and associating particular foods with gains in the brain, thereby forging new neural pathways. Conversely, willpower can sometimes suppress emotions and desires temporarily. A common example is the rebound following a period of dieting for weight loss. Even if individuals successfully shed weight for a while, they often revert to their original dietary patterns after some time. This could be attributed to their failure to truly internalize the new habit and their association of the diet with negative gains.

Author: Yi Zhou

Editor: ChatGPT

Reference:

1. Andrew Huberman, “Dr. Charles Zuker: The Biology of Taste Perception & Sugar Craving | Huberman Lab Podcast #81”, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UChhXiFPRgg
2. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (n.d.). Mindful Eating. The Nutrition Source. Retrieved September 30, 2023, from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/mindful-eating/