Have you tried to control what you’re eating through sheer willpower alone?
Only to fail and end up face first into a pack of Family bag of Thai sweet chilli sensations?
Yeh, it happens.
But here’s the thing, if you’re using willpower alone to control overeating, then you’re going to fail.
Why? Because your brain & the environment you experience regulate your food intake.
If you’re eating too much, your brain & the signals it receives & perceives, from your environment is what drives you to choose what, how much & when to eat.
When it comes to overeating the fitness & dieting industry will mostly blame a persons:
▶️Willpower
▶️Lack of discipline
▶️Fats
▶️Sugars
And more common today; gluten, lectins, dairy, meat and even fruit!
Common advice was to ‘put down the fork’ or cut out a specific food/food groups.
Pointing the finger at the individual & their lack of self-control or awareness .
Commonly we believe when we have control it’s usually the case that:
“I eat what I want, when I want it. And I stop when I want to”.
But we have a lot less control than that.
Behind our decision-making processes are physiological forces we’re never even aware of.
Normally your body works on a tightly regulated feedback loop that involves how much energy you put & how much you consume.
This is called the leptin feedback loop (3).
Source: medium.com
Leptin is a hormone that’s released by fat tissue (2).
Leptin tells the brain how much energy we’ve just consumed and how much excess energy we have stored up (as fat).
The more body fat we have, the more leptin in our blood.
The brain makes decisions based on leptin levels about hunger, calorie intake, nutrient absorption, and energy use and storage.
Then, it cycles back to regulate leptin production in a loop that can help keep our energy (and body weight) balanced over time.
The leptin feedback loop works great in most people to naturally regulate how much energy we use (through how much we spontaneously move) and how much we consume… that’s until we disrupt it.
Source: wholefoodplantbaseddiet.com
(NOTE: it’s a bit more complex than this. Other hormones are involved such as grehlin. Ghrelin is a hormone related to hunger & appetite. Ghrelin, leptin & other gut hormones are work in a symphony to regulate your desire to eat. Other factors like how much your stomach expands and foods rich in carbs & fats influencing hormones like insulin, are also linked to appetite regulation, satiety & how much energy you expend). (1)
So how does our brain decide what, how much & when to eat?
We’ll there’s many factors including:
➡️Genetic
➡️Social
➡️Learned behaviour
➡️Hormonal status
➡️Circadian rhythms
➡️Lifestyle factors
➡️Environmental factors
So it’s complicating and we’re still trying to work it out.
We have ideas on what can stop us from eating and how certain foods can influence fullness & appetite.
We know that eating:
➡️more lean protein
➡️fibre
➡️fruits
➡️veggies
➡️starchy tubers
➡️breakfast
➡️regular timely food intake
&
➡️eat more slowly
... can all positively influence us from overeating (there’s more but these are the main nutrition factors).
So what disrupts the the feedback loop leading us to eat more than we used to?
Hyper palatable foods - the highly rewarding & easy to grab foods.
These are the foods that are the top contenders for hyper palatability - foods that keep us interested, wanting more and which we find difficult to stay stop (4):
NOTE: the following is based on US data as it was difficult to find data related to the UK.
Grain based desserts (donuts, pastries, cookies, scones, granola etc.)
Yeast breads
Processed chicken foods (chicken nuggets, chicken strips etc.)
Sugar sweetened beverages & sports drinks
Alcoholic beverages
Fast food
The leptin feedback loop that helps prevent overeating becomes disrupted It’s becoming more common now that the most tasty foods that are usually a rich combination of fat, sugar & sometimes salt.
This disruption in the feedback loop can lead to chronic overeating and eventually we become LEPTIN RESISTANT.
Source: Leptin Dysfunction and Alzheimer’s Disease: Evidence from Cellular, Animal, and Human Studies - Scientific Figure on ResearchGate. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-regulation-of-body-weight-and-systemic-metabolism-by-leptin-Leptin-acts-as-the_fig3_298905856 [accessed 1 Dec, 2021] (5)
The food industry know this.
They create tasty delicious foods that manipulate these satiety centres so we crave more and are drawn right back to the next bite, order, drive through and subscription service.
These habits are also reinforced through food reward & socially normalising concepts like:
➡️Crisps at snack time,
➡️High sugar cereal for breakfast
➡️Sweets & sugary sodas at cinemas
➡️Samosas at the office
➡️Mid-afternoon biscuit breaks
Change your food habits to change your brain & prevent overeating
1. Eat whole, minimally processed, fresh foods prepped from scratch
Vegetables and fruits of different colours
Lean meats, eggs, dairy & plant based sources of protein
High fibre, slow digesting starchy carbohydrates like jumbo oats, sweet potato, potato, beans, lentils, chickpeas
Nuts, seeds, fatty fish and quality fats
2. Negotiate with yourself
It’s okay to eat some of the high rewarding foods. Rarely will people completely avoid them and telling yourself that they are ‘bad’ may usually lead down a path of guilt and eventually a poor with food.
Telling yourself no completely, for many, can lead to overeating or binge eating.
Decide or plan in advance to enjoy some ice cream or a croissant at breakfast. Eat the foods you choose with habits such as eating slowly, mindfully & enjoying them with others.
Instead of having them everyday, try maybe once a week. Then once you’re over it, move on and go back to your healthier habits.
Negotiate with yourself depending on what it is you‘re trying to achieve. You’ll find unless you’re looking to be a top end athlete or enter a bodybuilding show, there’s room to fit the foods you enjoy.
3. Change your food environment
Many people eat these hyper palatable foods because of convenience.
The taste reward factor combined with easy accessibility & lack of preparation means, compared to a healthy meal, they’re much more easy to reach for.
With that being the case, keeping foods around you that have high reward and that are easy to consume, is a temptation most won’t resist.
You may be better off not keeping the foods in the house or put them in difficult to reach places.
Keeping the tasty foods off the shopping list can serve people well.
The aim is to make it as difficult as possible for yourself to reach or grab for those tasty foods that trigger you to overeat.
4. Practise slow mindful eating
Whether it’s cookies or broccoli, eating more slowly and consciously will aid in your mind & belly better registering what’s happening.
Many people eat way too quickly prevents their brain registering what’s happening.
Food & meal time is a process which starts from smelling, to chewing your food properly.
Slowing down your meal times and not eating in a hurry will allow proper satisfaction & reduced cravings for foods that will break that leptin feedback loop
Following these steps over time may help you crave less hyper palatable processed foods.
You’ll reset your leptin feedback loop and feel more in control of your hunger & appetite.
Of course our food choices in general is a complex topic involving physiology, psychology & emotional inputs.
Properly enjoyed meals, where you take your time and enjoy them with family & friends will be more satisfying than that drive through meal or family pack of crisps.
For some it may be more complex than these and they may need some more support with their nutrition & lifestyle habits.
CLICK HERE for 1-2-1 support if you feel like you need guidance to making your biggest changes yet
Tej
Resources:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2006.00270.x
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7746678_How_Palatable_Food_Disrupts_Appetite_Regulation
Source: Leptin Dysfunction and Alzheimer’s Disease: Evidence from Cellular, Animal, and Human Studies - Scientific Figure on ResearchGate. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-regulation-of-body-weight-and-systemic-metabolism-by-leptin-Leptin-acts-as-the_fig3_298905856 [accessed 1 Dec, 2021]
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