Hedonic Hunger, or the desire to eat purely for taste and pleasure, triggers overeating and leads to weight gain, according to new research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. When a person eats a pleasurable food, it can trigger reward centers in the brain to promote eating more of said food. The study tracked eight healthy adults, and fed them each their personal favorite food. Later, they were given a less palatable a food and then hormones levels were measured. The study reveled elevated gherlin and 2-AG levels with hedonic eating, but not with non-hedonic eating. The results suggest hedonic eating creates a chemical reward system, which overrides the body’s signals that eating enough for energy has been accomplished.
From an evolutionary standpoint, humans are wired to gain pleasure from food, because food is necessary to our survival. Now, however, we’re in a well-nourished society where food is plentiful. We are now in a stage where seeking food is sometimes solely for pleasure, not survival.
Psychologists now say there is evidence that obese people tend to eat more highly palatable foods more often than people of normal weight. People who are a healthy weight, curb hedonic eating by consciously eating less than they really want to. As wanting a substance and liking a substance are controlled by different brain chemicals, highly palatable foods can have the same effects on the brain as seen in drug addiction.
Curbing Hedonic Hunger for Weight Loss
Hedonic hunger is proof of the strong connection between the body and the mind, and why changing your mindset is a key part of your weight loss ventures. Being married to a chef, I am constantly surrounded by highly-palatable and well-seasoned foods. After all, he’s trained to make food taste good… and why eat something if it doesn’t taste good?
To curb hedonic eating, we have two options:
- Limit exposure to highly palatable foods, using a kind of “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” approach.
- Seek to eat foods that are more bland.
Be aware, if you cut off your supply of hedonic food abruptly, this could create more stress on your body and in your environment, which could easily promote you returning to hedonic habits. (Try putting a little less salt, or a little less sugar in the foods you make. Wean yourself off of your trigger foods gradually!)
This is why I suggest using positive affirmations to re-train your brain. You’re not going to bypass the hard wiring of your brain to eat for survival, but you can re-train your brain to handle being around hedonic foods, so you can enjoy them in moderation.
What’s your most hedonic food? Your personal favorite that you cannot live without? How are you going work against hedonic hunger and re-train your brain?
