The Food Trap

Food is one of life’s simple pleasures, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with enjoying it. However, in today’s food environment, where hyper-palatable, highly processed foods are designed to hijack our brain’s reward system, constantly seeking out hedonic pleasure in eating can work against our health and body composition goals. 

Many of us try to navigate this by finding “healthier” substitutes for our favorite foods—protein cookies instead of regular cookies, low-carb pizza instead of the real deal. While these swaps can have a place in a balanced approach, and indeed can fill a particular craving, they can also create unintended issues. 

The more we center our diets around recreating indulgent eating experiences, the more we reinforce food as a primary source of pleasure. I do think that we should enjoy our meals! However it seems that at every turn we are encouraged to fill our protein goals with protein cheesecake or a protein pudding, or turn cottage cheese into Easter eggs. Our brains are wired to respond to sweet, salty and fatty foods. This is what hits our feedback reward system. While artificial sweeteners do not hit our reward system the same way that real sugar does, there is some research to suggest that in some people, the incomplete activation of the reward system may lead to overeating calories to compensate. So, while the chemical pathway is different, the effect may be the same.

There is also the possibility of obsessive behaviors in light of a calorie deficit. For many people there is an increase in ‘food focus’ that is driven in part by the simple fact that you’re eating less food overall, you will be slightly hungry a lot of the time, and your attention can be hijacked by the idea of pleasurable food. It’s totally fine to be somewhat distracted, or to derive pleasure from finding recipes that give you different taste sensations from the smaller calorie budget that you have allocated. However, constantly searching for ways to "healthify" indulgences keeps the focus on food rather than on nourishing the body and, importantly, on other important things in life! What starts as a bit of an interest can lead to all-consuming thoughts around food. This can lead to early termination of the diet for some people as they don’t enjoy how they find themselves behaving.

Overeating  is a very real experience when we are constantly trying to substitute out our favorite foods for these lower-calorie or macro-friendly alternatives. This is partially because they lack can satiety, leading us to eat more in volume without feeling satisfied. It can also be behavioral, in that we talk ourselves into eating more because the substitutes are lower in calories than their dietary counterparts, so we let ourselves off the hook a little.  While (as mentioned above) there is not the same dopamine hit through consuming artificial sweetener, and the combination with dietary fat hasn’t been explored in full, the mouthfeel and sweet flavor can drive more of a reward response than either fat or sugar in isolation. Therefore it is plausible the ‘keto’ muffin will have the same impact, despite being lower in carbohydrate. 

Finally, these substitutes are often lower in micronutrients and fiber compared to just eating minimally processed food. This nutrient dilution can lead to insufficient intakes of micronutrients which, over time, lowers diet quality and can place you at risk of a nutrient deficiency. In a calorie deficit his matters, as the budget to be able to meet your nutrient intakes is lower, so every calorie counts when it comes to what goes in.

Ultimately, even if these substitutes are technically “better” than their processed counterparts, they still reinforce the same food-reward cycle and can keep us stuck in the mindset of chasing pleasure from food rather than seeing it as fuel. This pleasure-seeking is often linked to feelings of restriction and deprivation when calorie counting, because we aren’t satisfied with the options we have available. 

Of course, food is more than fuel, but we often put it on a pedestal, hyper-focusing on it rather than, say, the fact we are eating with our friends, or in a high vibe environment, or sharing a meal with our loved ones. This is what makes food more than just the nutrients itself. But it is easy to lose sight of this if we are in a fat loss phase and have a mindset of deprivation rather an abundance. It’s complex – how we feel about the fat loss phase we are in. But reminding ourselves of the opportunity to meet body composition goals and nourish our body, future proofing our health, and that we are choosing to do this can all help if feelings of deprivation arise.

So, rather than engineering every meal to be as delicious as possible, shifting focus to foods that naturally promote satiety can be a more effective strategy for long-term adherence. This includes:

• Protein – The most satiating macronutrient, keeping hunger at bay and supporting muscle retention. We will go into amounts in another blog, but as a minimum for most people, 1.8g/kg body weight (or 0.8g/lb)

• Fiber – Supports digestion and satiety, helping to regulate appetite – minimum 25g/day

• Simplicity – While meals should be enjoyable, they don’t need to be engineered for maximum pleasure. If every meal is designed to be a dopamine hit, we set ourselves up for constant cravings and dissatisfaction when food is just… food.

Instead of making every meal an indulgent experience, it can be helpful to adopt a more neutral approach to eating. This doesn’t mean food should be bland or unenjoyable, but it also doesn’t need to be a major source of excitement in our day. When we stop seeking that constant pleasure from food, we free up mental space and energy for other fulfilling aspects of life—relationships, movement, and meaningful work.

At the end of the day, food is just food. It’s meant to nourish us, not be our primary source of happiness.

References

DiFeliceantonio, A. G., Coppin, G., Rigoux, L., Edwin Thanarajah, S., Dagher, A., Tittgemeyer, M., & Small, D. M. (2018). Supra-Additive Effects of Combining Fat and Carbohydrate on Food Reward. Cell metabolism, 28(1), 33–44.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2018.05.018

Yang Q. (2010). Gain weight by "going diet?" Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings: Neuroscience 2010. The Yale journal of biology and medicine, 83(2), 101–108.