While we tend to believe that you have to choose between enjoyment and health when it comes to eating, there is a slew of evidence that eating-related pleasure, satisfaction and enjoyment are important components of a healthy diet. At the same time, negative emotions related to eating like guilt, fear, shame and judgment have real consequences for our health and well-being – and not just for social reasons. Here’s what happens when you enjoy the food you eat:
1. You’ll digest your food better.
Enjoyment tells the parasympathetic nervous system to trigger its relaxation response. This is the same system that gets your digestion going by relaxing the muscles in your gastrointestinal tract and increasing digestive juices. So when you are eating food that tastes good and brings you pleasure, you’re also triggering digestion. The opposite can happen as well: If you eat something that you don’t really want or like, or you feel guilty or ashamed while eating it, you trigger the body’s stress response. This partially shuts down digestion and can lead to insulin spikes, fat storage and gut issues like bloating, constipation or diarrhea.
2. You’ll absorb more nutrients.
When it comes to nutrient absorption, taste matters. A study looked at iron absorption when people from Sweden were given Thai food and people from Thailand were given Swedish food. In both cases, people absorbed less iron than when they ate the food from their native country, which they presumably enjoyed more. The study also looked at nutrient absorption when both groups were given the same meal, but blended into an ugly brown goo. In this instance, neither group absorbed much iron, likely because it was no fun to eat.
3. You’ll be satisfied with less.
There is a difference between feeling physically full and feeling satisfied. If you aren’t completely satisfied with the food you are eating, it becomes much easier to overeat. That’s because when you don’t get the pleasure you are seeking, your brain interprets that missed experience as hunger, so you continue to eat more and more in an attempt to feel satisfied. Satisfaction, however, is what really turns off the drive to eat. When you enjoy the food that you are eating, it is much easier to stop eating when you are full.
With some practice, you can work out what foods give you the most pleasure and enjoyment (without compromising your health) – and your overall health will likely benefit as a result. There are some things that are healthy for me that I do not like but there is always a really healthy alternative!
