OReach of us has a food personality, that is, habitual behavior at the table, a specific way of thinking about food. Who can’t resist temptation, who celebrates with ice cream and who cleans up the plate.
The act of eating contains the echo of our DNA, our inclinations, the family we grew up in and the life we lead. Getting to know each other could help identify strategies to get back in shape, if needed: as shown by research recently published on Jama and conducted by a California team on 217 adults.
Because we are hungry
Food personalities or phenotypes, scientists explain, are the result of interactions between the genetic makeup, individual characteristics developed over time and the environment. It starts from afar. The hunger stimulus is stored in robust circuits of neurons, it is strong to the point that it pushed our ancestors to overcome the fear of going hunting, risking their lives.
Learning to savor helps you eat better (photo Gallery Stock).
His are ancient cerebral roads, paved over hundreds of thousands of years: they move at search for nutrients when the belly is empty and, once the appetite is satisfied, they lead to the production of dopamine, with a general sense of well-being. «A full stomach beats the sistrum of pleasure and the drum of joy» wrote Gioacchino Rossini, musician and cook.
Digestive system and head are inseparable before a lunch. Food intake is regulated by two main systems. The first is homeostatic regulation, in which peripheral hormones signal an energy deficit to the brain, which requires the restoration of balance, triggering appetite; the other is hedonic regulation, based on the so-called reward mechanismon the pleasure that eating gives us.
Our brain knows when the body’s cells have enough “fuel”: a hormone, leptin, communicates the feeling of satiety. But some brain areas do not stop responding even when the stomach is full and, if we order tiramisu, they flood us with substances with a dual power, exciting and analgesic. Like a little drug that raises the pain perception threshold, takes away stress, instills serenity.
The combination of hunger stimulus, with all its power, and the release of pleasure molecules influence our relationship with food, from the speed with which we consume a meal to the type of food we prefer, from the quantity to the time.
Five phenotypes that overeat
Food phenotypes can already be traced in children and continue to change throughout life. According to the research that appeared on Jamathere are five most common personalities linked to a relationship with the table to be perfected: Being mindful of your individual traits is a good step towards eating healthier.
Ingesting automatically is equivalent to eating without tasting, without looking, as if it were a robbery gesture. Instead gain awareness, for example with the practice of mindfulnessthrough meditation techniques, is a training to tune into the senses and emotions while choosing food, while chewing.
1 – The impulsive ones
The first food personality featured on Jama is that of the impulsive: they are people who in front of a buffet, aperitif bowls or a bar window they lose control. “If you find it difficult to resist, you may recognize that food exerts a high attraction on you and try to practice avoidance or resistance strategies,” advise American researchers.
We feel like eating what we see: that’s how we are, it’s an ancestral motion. In order not to fall into the temptation to nibble the bread, it is better not to put it on the table unless it is at the right time. Those who cook have a harder life, but it is useful to keep cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, celery or fennel on hand to distract yourself with low-calorie vegetables.
2 – Out of hours
It happens to nibble even if it’s only been an hour since lunch, but those who do it habitually could find themselves at the end of the year with a few extra pounds. For example, a couple of biscuits can give from 20 to 100 calories, depending on whether they are dry or filled. It has been proven that keeping a food diary teaches you to eat with your head even before your palate and belly. And it can cause you to lose up to twice the weight compared to those who do not write anything down during a weight-loss journey (as stated in a study of 1,700 Americans in the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research).
3 – The emotional
“I only eat to feed the pain,” wrote Alda Merini. Difficult to find something more than food that comforts and relieves stressIt is true.
“The Seven Pillars of Mindfulness” by Maria Beatrice Toro (Vallardi)
Maria Beatrice Toro, didactic director of the Scint School of Specialization in Cognitive Interpersonal Psychotherapy in Rome, calls it “hunger of the heart” in her book The seven pillars of mindfulness (Vallardi): «Sadness, anxiety, anger, a sense of emptiness, loneliness, boredom can activate a false hunger stimulus, since the sense of fullness and reward that food provides makes us think we can quell such moods. (…) By eating mindfully we can begin to ask ourselves what our heart is really hungry for, accepting the answer that we will give. Whenever we succeed, let’s open ourselves to an attitude of acceptance and non-judgment to understand more deeply what we eat, how and why we eat it, and how it makes us feel. With this new awareness we will be able to plant the seeds of transformation».
4 – The cleaners
If it becomes difficult to resist food once served and you tend to clean up your plate, the obvious option is going for smaller portions. There is always time for an encore and it is not wasted. Pay attention to the size of the dishes: the bigger they are, the more the amount of food destined to fill them increases. The problem is especially with funds, which should be preferred small size.
5 – The sprinters
If eating fast equals eating too muchyou should try to slow down by interspersing bites with a chat, drinking water and committing yourself to chewing longer.
“For each belly its remedy” by Silvio Danese (Sonzogno)
“It takes patience to feel full” writes Silvio Danese, head of gastroenterology at San Raffaele in Milan in the book Each belly has its own remedy (Sonzogno): «To avoid filling yourself too much during a meal, it is good to keep in mind a decisive factor. When the stomach sees fat, carbohydrates, protein and fiber arriving, it sends a message to the brain which roughly says: “Thank you, I’m fine like this”. Too bad that the message takes about twenty minutes to be transmitted from there to up there. Do you have any idea how much food can be introduced into our body in such a period of time? So, you have to play smart. Start the meal with a salad or a plate of cooked or raw vegetablesseasoned with a little olive oil, is an excellent solution».
When eating products rich in insoluble fiber, like whole grains, it automatically happens that you have to work more than molars, the consistency requires it. The slow lunch, among other things, is a wonderful way to pay homage to the dishes. Desire is amplified by slowness, savoring is one of the ways to love life.
Eliana Liotta (photo by Carlo Furgeri Gilbert).
Eliana Liotta is a journalist, writer and science popularizer. On iodonna.it and on the main platforms (Spreaker, Spotify, Apple Podcast and Google Podcast) you can find her podcast series The good that I want.
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