Do you think that if you just eat the right foods, your body will dramatically improve? Maybe. And maybe not. Your general lifestyle, and more specifically habits around eating (besides the food itself) have a HUGE impact on the effect of that food.
Did you know that if you are chronically sleep-deprived, your leptin levels drop? Leptin is a hormone that tells your body that you’re full. But if you’re sleep deprived, you make less of it, so no matter how well you eat that given day, you won’t feel satisfied (or you will need more food to feel satisfied). Want proof? Check out this study.
Did you know that eating food that you enjoy actually helps you extract more nutrients from it? In one study, both Thai women and Swedish women were given Thai food. Yet the Thai women absorbed 50% more iron from that meal than the Swedish women (it is presumed that Thai women like Thai food more than Swedish women like Thai food).
It’s also very important to pay attention to your food (instead of watching TV while you eat). In one dynamite study, a group of participants drank a beverage with minerals when they were relaxed, and when they were stressed (to induce stress, the participants had two people talking to them – one in each ear – as they were chugging down the drink). Under relaxed conditions, the sodium and chloride had 100% absorption. Under stressed conditions, those minerals had 0% absorption.
Lastly, in another experiment, movie goers were given free popcorn (5-day old popcorn, by the way). Some of the participants were given a medium container, and others a large container. Even though the popcorn was stale, both participants ate it, because they were distracted by the movie. But the really interesting part is that the participants who were given the large container ate 50% more popcorn than those in the medium container. When those with a large container were asked whether they ate more, they said “no.” They didn’t realize that they ate a whopping 50% more for two reasons: they were distracted by the movie, but also the physical size of the container made it illusive.
The takeaway lessons are:
- Get enough sleep
- When you’re eating, focus on eating. Don’t watch TV or work at the same time as eating.
- Make sure that you are relaxed before you sit down to eat
- Eat foods that you enjoy (in other words, prepare healthy foods in the way that appeals to you the most)
- Pay attention to internal cues (just how full your stomach is and how satisfied you are), not external cues (like the amount of food on your plate)
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Quick Summary
- Get enough sleep
- When you’re eating, focus on eating. Don’t watch TV or work at the same time as eating.
- Make sure that you are relaxed before you sit down to eat
- Eat foods that you enjoy (in other words, prepare healthy foods in the way that appeals to you the most)
- Pay attention to internal cues (just how full your stomach is and how satisfied you are), not external cues (like the amount of food on your plate)