The Five Food Instincts that Drive Your Relationship with Food

There is a fine connection between our hunger and mood in deciding what we put in our stomach. But hunger is not the only attribute that drives our relationship with food. There’s more to that! What we eat and what we restrict affect our body in numerous ways! But do you ever wonder how and what choices affect our food intake? 

Today we bring you five food instincts that directly affect your choices to eat and makes you to consume those extra and negative calories which not only leads you to gain weight but also decline your health while slowing down your metabolic rate. Don’t worry! We also keep your cover on how you can control these food instincts for the smooth and effective functioning of the body and to keep the diseases at bay.

• Hunger: Hunger is the most basic instinct that drives your relationship with food. When your body feel hungry a hormone named ghrelin activates in your body and it is responsible in sending signals to your brain about your hunger. Human brains are hard-wired and it can connect boredom, stress and emotions to hunger as well. Being mindful of your physical hunger is the smartest way to keep a control on your food and it also saves you from consuming negative calories which can further lead to various health ailments like obesity, high cholesterol level, diabetes and many more. Make your meals nutrient-dense to eliminate any unnecessary hunger and to keep yourself hale and hearty. You can include plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds in your diet to get the goodness of nutrients.

• Availability: There is a reason behind the thread ‘the more food we see, the more food we eat.’ This is a natural response of the body and the sight of food can easily activate powerful indications of hunger to your brain. The smartest way to control this food instinct is rebuilding your food environment. Keep the food far from your eyes so that you can forget about it and feel less tempted or hungry. Also, fill up your pantry with healthy and nutritious food so that you can only chew the healthy food whenever you feel hungry.

• Calorie density: The density of calories you are consuming can easily affect your choices of food. Human mind craves for calories dense and processed foods like cookies, cakes, pasta, cheese, pizza and many others. But such staples are fat-enriched and their lip-smacking taste increases your hunger which leads you to overeat and result in weight gain. Switching such foods from fibre-rich foods is the way to go. Fibre and nutrient-rich food can make you feel fuller for a longer period and reduce your hunger and calorie intake. You can go for soups, salads, stir-fry veggies, oatmeal and yoghurt and you can mix them with a dash of your favourite herbs and spices to enhance the taste of these low calorie foods.

• Familiarity: When you know certain groups of foods you will definitely end up eating them. The food we are familiar with gives us a safe and comfortable vibes and that is why we develop some sort of emotions towards them and end up eating them again and again. So, start getting familiar with healthy and nutritious foods so that when you feel hungry you can only recall wholesome meals. Stick to a healthy and well-balanced diet and swap your ingredients with healthier versions so that these healthy ingredients become your comfort foods.

• Variety: The more food choices we get, the more we eat. Yes, that’s true! Just like smelling and seeing the food can make us hungry, similarly looking at different and new options can also drive our choices to eat food. Balance the variety of food to enhance your overall health and well-being. The simple trick is to maximise the variety of healthy foods in your pantry while reducing the variety of unhealthy and processed foods items in your kitchen cabinets. This way you can easily balance your unconscious overeating.

Footnote

Make notes from the above pointers and keep a track on these food instincts to keep yourself in fine fettle.