Some time ago, a large food company approached psychiatrist Valerie Taylor, whose work focuses on the intersection between body weight and the mind, for insight into what drives humans to eat. She didnt bite on their offer. But it speaks to the fact that people selling us this food understand its not just about hunger, she says. Psychological influences are also critical to understanding why one in four adults in Canada are now obese.The National Post spoke to Taylor, the chief of psychiatry at the University of Calgary.
Q: We often hear that no one chooses to be obese. It was the opening line in a recent report by the British Psychological Society, whose authors also stressed that obesity doesnt simply come down to a lack of will power. So, what is making us overeat, or eat when we arent hungry?
A: Sometimes people get more joy from food than other areas of life. It is a consistent, reliable pleasure, and certainly we see it sometimes in individuals whom have experienced certain types of childhood trauma. The people in their lives couldnt consistently be depended on to be positive, and food was the only thing that always made them feel better. Food was a comfort, a consistent source of happiness. And it becomes difficult to break that pattern when they become adults. Any time of discomfort or stress, food is going to be the go-to mechanism.
It can be like substance use. Some people eat to bring them pleasure, and some eat to avoid distress. Hunger can be associated with increased stress hormones. You start to get hungry, your glucose level drops. Your brain uses glucose for fuel, it mobilizes your body to get food, and the cravings start. Stress hormones like cortisol get released. People get hungry, they get angry, they get irritable, and they want to eat. Some people really dislike that feeling and will eat to prevent it.
Q: Why do most diets fail miserably in the long run? Arizona State University scientists recently estimated that Americans alone have collectively tried to lose weight more than two billion times over the past 40 years, yet obesity rates tripled over the same period.
The problem is with the whole diet concept. Its the forbidden fruit analogy: You cant eat chocolates, you cant eat doughnuts, you cant eat anything thats on the off list so you start to obsess more about (those) foods. Your body psychologically starts to crave them. I often tell people that nothing should be forbidden. You should not eat 12 doughnuts. But you can certainly eat one. Its important to move away from the bad food idea.
For every diet there is often an equal and opposite binge that occurs afterwards. Diets arent sustainable. As soon as the diet stops, people often revert back to their previous eating patterns. Especially if youve been on a very restrictive diet, your body starts to worry when you lose weight. Your brain slows your metabolism down. If suddenly you revert back to that pattern of eating that was problematic for your weight in the first place, youre going to gain more weight.
A diet should be whatever type of eating pattern you can adhere to that can make you physically and psychologically happy and is sustainable over time.
The other problem is that maintenance isnt psychologically rewarding. People get a buzz when they step on the scale and every day its gone down by 0.2 pounds, and then they reach a plateau and the numbers dont change. Theyre no longer getting that reward, and so they quit. But nobody can lose weight indefinitely we cant go to nothing. At some point the weight loss is going to stop, or at least stall while the body resets itself. Its important that people recognize that.
Q: How much does stress affect our sensitivity to food cues and cravings?
A: With stress, we often make impulsive choices. When the stress hormones are ramped up, it drives the urge for certain foods that are going to up your glucose quicker. Its not going to be broccoli.
Some people also drink alcohol to cope with stress. But alcohol reduces self-control, it increases impulsivity and it sometimes makes food appear tastier. It can also disrupt our bodys ability to self-regulate, so the normal satiety signals dont get fed back if youve been drinking and you start to eat.
Many people can identify their go-to foods in times of stress. But for some people, they need it for everystress. Theyre unable to stop. They anticipate bad things happening youre worried this exam is going to be hard, so you eat. Youre worried youre going to have a conflict with your partner, you eat. They use it almost as a drug. But you just go up and down. Youll eat, there will be an increase in glucose, there will be an increase in positive emotions, but then the food starts to move through your system and your mood starts to crash. And, so, you take the drug again. Or you just keep eating constantly to avoid ever experiencing that low emotion.
Q: How are we being manipulated by food manufacturers?
A: Look at family-sized portion bags. It seems like a good deal, except people open it up and eat all of it as a single serving. Avoid family-sized anything. The companies making them dont assume that this is going to be eaten by the family. Food companies also pay to have certain foods placed on shelves at eye level. Theyre not placed randomly. Bright, colourful boxes also appeal to the brain when someone is hungry.
Ultra-processed foods are also problematic. We didnt evolve to eat ultra-processed, convenient foods. Your body doesnt know what to do with it and your brain doesnt know how to react to it. (A study published in May in the journal Cell Metabolism found that, even when two diets are matched for the same amount of carbs, fat, sugar, salt and calories, people eat more food and gain more weight on ultra-processed diets.) If people want to do low-carb, high-carb or keto or vegan or Paleo all of those things are fine, if thats important to them. It is important to recognize the one thing all of those eating plans have in common is that they make people avoid significant amounts of highly processed foods. Eat in a way that makes you happy, is sustainable and involves as much food as it can that you prepare yourself. These are the keys.
Q: Some experts have said that what we really need to focus on is the primary biological drive of overeating what psychologists call wanting and help people self-regulate against that wanting, that its something that can be taught.
A: Cognitive restraint is a little bit like willpower. Its learning to understand your triggers and think, I dont need to eat right now. Im not hungry. Its about being less vulnerable to external cues and internal stressors. You can slowly increase your capacity for restraint over time, with teaching and with learning. But its also depleteable. If youre restricting avoiding those forbidden foods your willpower runs out after a while. You snap. You go from eating 900 calories a day to 3,500 calories a day.
Q: What other coping strategies can we use?
A: I think because of busy lifestyles, we eat fast. Slow down, be mindful, and really try to focus on what youre eating. Make a grocery list and dont buy anything thats not on the list, nothing thats an impulsive buy. Food diaries can feel like a pain, but they make people pause. I try to get people to do it in the moment, not the end of the day, because it stops this mindless eating. Dont eat in front of the television, or while youre on the computer, because you lose focus on your eating and you fail to recognize the cues that your brain is giving you. Set a reasonable goal for yourself and dont weigh yourself every day. There should be no food that is forbidden, there should be no place that you dont go to eat. We need to understand that food does bring us joy, and should bring us joy.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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'Some people eat to bring them pleasure and some eat to avoid distress' - National Post
