The other day I saw an article on Women’s Health called Why We Love Food. It’s an interesting read if you have a chance to check it out, but it basically covers where our food preferences, behaviors and overall relationship with food comes from.
Some interesting stats from the article:
- 45% of our food preferences are determined by genetics
- 55% of our food preferences/behaviors are learned
A lot of our attitude towards food stems from our childhood and/or a memory of a certain food. Food can make you feel a certain way. Maybe you loved grilled cheese and tater tots as a kid. When you’re in the mood to be comforted you might turn to this meal to make you feel better.
On the other hand, if you have a sweet tooth you might be able to blame your genes because taste buds are coded in your DNA. Could my DNA be to blame for my sweets addiction? Immediately after dinner I look for something sweet and I’ve always envied people who could just eat their dinner and move on without thinking of how they’re going to get their end-of-meal sugar fix. Then again, my parents have always been the same way and enjoy frozen yogurt or a cookie after dinner. So did I learn this behavior or was I born this way? Hmm.
As someone who is almost 30 weeks pregnant this article got me thinking about how what I am eating these days may be affecting my son’s future with food, and also how my attitude (and my husband’s attitude) towards food will rub off on him as he grows up. My relationship with food has come a long way and I think for the most part it’s pretty healthy these days, but I know I’ll have to keep in mind that my husband and I are both very passionate people. We love working out and we sure do love food. Hopefully we can encourage our son to have a happy/healthy attitude towards fueling his body.
Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live. ~Jim Rohn
Some other stats from the article:
- Nearly 30% of women (based on 6,000 Women’s Health readers) feel stressed out about food every single day
- 5% of American women will be diagnosed with an eating disorder at some point in their life (this is only the DIAGNOSED cases)
- 36% of American women are obese
And some advice to better your relationship with food (taken directly from the article):
Focus on your food. You may not have time to savor every bite of every meal, but turning off the TV and sitting at a table will help you take more pleasure in your food.
But don’t be hypervigilant. “Being too aware of what and how much you eat can turn you into a food obsessive,” says Wansink. “Not to mention that having a mind-set of ‘If I walk two miles, I can eat this many chips’ is a terrible way to live.”
Don’t tell yourself no. Deprivation diets set you up for failure. “It’s a lot more liberating to say ‘I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want, as long as I know how much I actually want,’ ” says Wansink.
Listen to your gut. If you like steak, order it, even if everyone else is having salad. Don’t take on others’ emotional static.
“Repeat this mantra: ‘I choose to enjoy this food,’ ” says Lombardo. At the end of the day, each of us has to decide for ourselves if food is the enemy or a dear friend.
What aspects of your relationship with food can you attribute to your biological, social and cultural background?
Rebecca says
Love this posting, it’s true – I’ve actually taken the Inherent Health Genetic testing (awesome program! Totally recommend) and discovered that my body sucks in the fat and I have to be low-fat conscious but the bonus was carbs aren’t as evil for my DNA makeup as I’d thought. Balance is definantly the key, portion control and not denying myself because I too LOVE sugar and have started eating one giant marshmallow after dinner to satisfy that sweettooth. Fat free….most of the time it works too.
Thanks for your advice and posts, I love reading your blog!!
(p.s. I’m a friend of Lisa French, that’s how I found your blog )
Amanda Perry says
Hi! Glad you found my blog. I love Lisa. Sounds like you have found what works for you. I don’t usually recommend GIANT marshmallows as a solution for my clients…maybe I should start. LOL
Tina @ Faith Fitness Fun says
that sounds like a great article. I agree with the genes thing. My mom has a huge sweet tooth and I do too. And I can already tell M does too. I really do make a strong effort to be cautious of how I approach food because I know the impact it can have on the kiddos. I have no doubt you will be a great example yourself.
Amanda Perry says
Let’s just blame our sweet tooths on our mamas then. Then our kids can do the same to us later. LOL
It seems you are a GREAT example for your kids and I love your attitude towards healthy eating (with some treats included!).
Brittany @Pretty Fit, Pretty Healthy, Pretty Happy says
What a great post! I’d have to say that, while my tastes matured and I instinctively go for more whole/fresh foods now, I often slip back into the junk food I often ate when I was growing up.
When we were growing up, my mom never gave us vegetables, and there were always cookies/ice cream/other junk foods in the house. I ended up learning on my own how great fresh foods really were. But I still find myself craving “crap” every once in a while.
Amanda Perry says
Exactly! I think everyone craves crap sometimes (and I think it’s important to give in to your cravings sometimes too!), but I do think some of what type of foods we crave definitely stems from childhood and what makes us comfortable, reminds us of being comfortable, etc. I think it’s so sad when I see parents who don’t know much about nutrition (or just don’t care) and end up feeling their kids all junk food all the time. I always worry about how they’ll end up eating when they are older. Not everyone can mature and go for whole/fresh foods most of the time like you do!
Margaret says
I find the stat about 45% is genetic amazing! I never would have thought. When it comes to food I think your environment is very influencial on what you eat. If you live somewhere that only has chain restaurants and you do your food shopping at WalMart you will miss out on so many different flavors. I also think age can have something to do with it. Personally I hated tomatoes for many, many year and now I love them but I am still picky about the tomatoes that I buy and eat. I think your cultural background plays a huge part in what you might gravitate towards. Here in the US we have so many people from so many different places that we are lucky to try different types of food from other countries! What is American food? Hamburgers and hotdogs? Interesting post!
Amanda Perry says
Yup, Margaret I think you’re right. I think what we are inclined to eat is a combination of so many things ranging from genetics, learned behaviors from our childhood, location, career, who we hang around with, what our goals are, what we know about nutrition, etc. It’s so interesting to think about!