Healthy eating is about more than what you eat

Most people, when they consider "healthy eating", tend to think first about what they consume.

This can involve aiming for more fruit and vegetables, cutting down on fast food, or calorie counting.

Yet healthy eating encompasses much more than dietary intake alone. Our food-related behaviours and attitudes matter too.

Consider orthorexia nervosa, an obsessive focus on eating exclusively "healthy" foods.

If healthy eating were defined solely as consuming nutritious foods, people with orthorexia would appear exceptionally healthy.

However, those living with this eating disorder commonly experience difficulties in relationships and report a poor quality of life, among other problems.

Research indicates that moving attention away from food itself and towards the experience of eating may offer a range of health benefits. Here is why.

Why are we so fixated on diet?

The tendency to treat "healthy eating" as synonymous with a "healthy diet" may have emerged in the early 1980s, amid alarm about the "obesity epidemic" in Western countries. This was defined as a rapid increase in the proportion of people with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above.

Yet obesity has complex, poorly understood causes, and there are many potential explanations that extend beyond what an individual eats. Telling people who are overweight to eat "healthier" has also failed to lower obesity rates across the population.

Some evidence suggests this preoccupation with weight has contributed to rising levels of disordered eating and eating disorders. Both involve unhelpful eating behaviours and distorted attitudes to food, weight, body shape and appearance.

Plainly, our understanding of healthy eating needs to change.

Listening to your body

An expanding body of evidence on intuitive eating suggests that this approach brings numerous health benefits.

Intuitive eating involves trusting the body's internal signals about when, what and how much to eat. This could mean noticing your stomach growling as a sign that it is time to eat, recognising when you feel full or satisfied, or craving particular foods because your body needs certain nutrients - such as protein after exercise.

Studies indicate that this approach may improve physical and mental health, as well as diet quality, and is linked with lower BMIs.

Research also indicates that eating at regular times and sharing meals with others can improve general health and diet quality.

If you find it difficult, you are not alone

Most of us live in food environments that can make healthy eating challenging.

Unhealthy food environments can encourage overeating and prompt us to ignore our natural hunger and fullness signals.

Being surrounded by inexpensive, readily available sugary snacks, fast food, large portions and extensive marketing can make it difficult to build a positive relationship with food.

This problem can be especially severe for people living in more disadvantaged communities.

For instance, in our research with rural Australians about food and eating, most participants said they wanted to eat more healthily but faced numerous obstacles. These included busy timetables and the price of healthier foods.

Habits and emotional eating may also make healthy eating harder.

So, what helps?

For most people, healthy eating behaviours and attitudes involve a balanced, flexible and non-judgemental approach that does not fear "bad" foods. It also means noticing cues of hunger and fullness.

It further involves understanding that food can create social and cultural connections. A healthy attitude towards food does not dismiss nutritional information; instead, it includes that knowledge within a broader, more enjoyable approach to eating.

Here are three ways to begin.

1. Noticing hunger and fullness signals

These signals can vary between individuals. Do you notice your stomach beginning to growl or your energy levels dropping? Has it been some time since your last meal? While eating, do you reach a point where your hunger has passed and you no longer strongly want to keep eating? Some people find hunger and fullness scales helpful.

2. Rethinking "bad" foods

Is there a food you genuinely enjoy but avoid because you see it as "bad" or "forbidden"? Consider adding a small portion to your next meal or snack. You may discover that this adds more enjoyment to eating while reducing the food's power over you.

3. Eating alongside other people

If you usually eat alone or "grab and go", try to find ways to allow more time for meals and share them with others. This might mean more meals with family or group lunches with colleagues.

But some people need to follow a particular diet

People with health conditions requiring a specific diet - including diabetes or coeliac disease - need to follow the relevant dietary advice. Even with these limitations, however, they may still be able to develop healthy food-related behaviours and attitudes.

For example, a 2020 study involving people with type 2 diabetes found that those who ate more intuitively had better control of their blood sugar levels.

The bottom line

So, if no medical condition prevents you from doing so, go ahead and eat some birthday cake. Then pay attention when your body tells you that you have had enough.

If you believe you have an unhealthy relationship with food that is disrupting your life, contact your GP to discuss the available options. You may also wish to approach the Butterfly Foundation for support.

Nina Van Dyke, Associate Professor and Associate Director, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University, and Rosemary V. Calder, Professor, Health Policy, Victoria University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.