One of the most fundamental building blocks of nutritional metabolism is neither vitamin, mineral, nor molecule. It’s our relationship with food. It’s the sum total of our innermost thoughts and feelings about what we eat. This relationship with food is as deep and revealing as any we might ever have. The great Sufi poet Rumi once remarked: “The satiated man and the hungry man do not see the same thing when they look upon a loaf of bread.” And Al Capone, noted gangster, astutely observed, “When I sell liquor, it’s called bootlegging; when my patrons serve it on silver trays on Lake Shore Drive, it’s called hospitality.” Indeed, how each of us thinks about eating is so profoundly relative that if a group of us were looking at the same plate of food, no two people would see the same thing, or metabolize it the same way.
Say, for example, we were examining a plate of pasta, chicken, and salad. A woman wanting to lose weight might see calories and fat. She’d respond favorably to the salad or chicken but would view the pasta with fear. An athlete trying to gain muscle mass might look at the same meal and see protein. She’d focus on the chicken and look past the other foods. A pure vegetarian could see the distasteful sight of a dead animal and wouldn’t touch anything on the plate. A chicken farmer, on the other hand, would likely be proud to see a good piece of meat. Someone trying to heal a disease through diet would see either potential medicine or potential poison, depending upon whether or not the plate of food is permissible on her chosen diet. A scientist studying nutrient content in food would see a collection of chemicals.
What’s amazing is that each of these eaters will metabolize this same meal quite differently in response to her unique thoughts. In other words, what you think and feel about a food can be as important a determinant of its nutritional value and its effect on body weight as the actual nutrients themselves.
Sound unbelievable?
Here’s a bit about how the science works:
How Your Brain Eats
The information highway of brain, spinal cord, and nerves is like a telephone system through which your mind communicates with your digestive organs. Let’s say you’re about to eat an ice cream cone. The notion and image of that ice cream occurs in the higher center of the brain – the cerebral cortex. From there, information is relayed electrochemically to the limbic system, which is considered the “lower” portion of the brain. The limbic system regulates emotions and key physiological functions such as hunger, thirst, temperature, sex drive, heart rate, and blood pressure. Within the limbic system is a pea-sized collection of tissues known as the hypothalamus, which integrates the activities of the mind with the biology of the body. In other worlds, it takes sensory, emotional, and thought input and transduces this information into physiological responses. This is nothing short of a miracle.
If the ice cream is your favorite flavor – say, chocolate – and you consume it with a full measure of delight, the hypothalamus will modulate this positive input by sending activation signals via parasympathetic nerve fibers to the salivary glands, esophagus, stomach, intestines, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder. Digestion will be stimulated and you’ll have a fuller metabolic breakdown of the ice cream while burning its calories more efficiently.
If you’re feeling guilty about eating the ice cream or judging yourself for eating it, the hypothalamus will take this negative input and send signals down the sympathetic fibers of the autonomic nervous system. This initiates inhibitory responses in the digestive organs, which means you’ll be eating your ice cream but not fully metabolizing it. It may stay in your digestive system longer, which can diminish your population of healthy gut bacteria and increase the release of toxic by-products into the bloodstream. Furthermore, inhibitory signals in the nervous system can decrease your calorie-burning efficiency via increased insulin and cortisol, which would cause you to store more of your guilt-infused ice cream as body fat. So the thoughts you think about the food you eat instantly become reality in your body via the central nervous system.
The brain doesn’t distinguish between a real stressor or an imagined one. If you sat in a room all by yourself, happy and content, and started thinking about the guy who did you wrong years ago, and if that story still carries a charge for you – your body would quickly shift into the physiologic stress-state – increased heart rate and blood pressure, followed by decreased digestive function.
Any guilt about food, shame about the body, or judgment about health are considered stressors by the brain and are immediately transduced into their electrochemical equivalents in the body. You could eat the healthiest meal on the planet, but if you’re thinking toxic thoughts the digestion of your food goes down and your fat storage metabolism can go up. Likewise, you could be eating a nutritionally challenged meal, but if your head and heart are in the right place, the nutritive power of your food will be increased.
Placebo on a Plate
To fully appreciate the power of mind over metabolism, let’s take a fresh look at one of the most compelling phenomenon in science: the placebo effect. Here’s my favorite example of this extraordinary force.
In 1983, medical researchers were testing a new chemotherapy treatment. One group of cancer patients received the actual drug being tested while another group received a placebo – a fake harmless, inert chemical substance. As you may know, pharmaceutical companies are required by law to test all new drugs against a placebo to determine the true effectiveness, if any, of the product in question. In the course of this study, no one thought twice when 74 percent of the cancer patients receiving the real chemotherapy exhibited one of the more common side effects of this treatment: they lost their hair. Yet, quite remarkably, 31 percent of the patients on the placebo chemotherapy – an inert saltwater injection – also had an interesting side effect: they lost their hair too. Such is the power of expectation. The only reason that those placebo patients lost their hair is because they believed they would. Like many people, they associated chemotherapy with going bald.
So if the power of the mind is strong enough to make our hair fall out when taking a placebo, what do you think happens when we think to ourselves “This cake is fattening, I really shouldn’t be eating it,” or “I’m going to eat this fried chicken but I know it’s bad for me,” or “I enjoy eating my salad because it’s really healthy?”
Certainly I’m not saying we can eat poison without any harm if we believe it’s good for us. I’m suggesting that what we believe about any substance we consume can powerfully influence how it affects the body. Every day, millions of people eat and drink while thinking strong and convincing thoughts about their meal.
Consider some of the foods you’ve given strong associations to:
“Salt will raise my blood pressure.”
“Fat will make me fatter.”
“Sugar will rot my teeth.”
“I can’t make it through the day without my cup of coffee.”
“This meat will raise my cholesterol level.”
“This calcium will build my bones.”
To a certain degree, some of these statements may be true. But is it possible that we are instigating these effects? And if these effects are the inherent result of eating these foods, can you see how we can enhance those results with the potency of our expectations?
The placebo effect is not some rare and unusual creature.
Its appearance is quite commonplace. Researchers have estimated that 35 to 45 percent of all prescription drugs may owe their effectiveness to placebo power and that 67 percent of all over-the-counter medications, such as headache remedies, cough medicines, and appetite suppressants, are also placebo based. In some studies the response to placebos is as high as 90 percent.
It amazes me that very few in the scientific community have made the obvious connection between placebo power and food. Indeed, the placebo effect is built into the nutritional process. It’s profoundly present on a day-to-day basis every time we eat. It’s like phoning in a prescription to your own inner nutritional pharmacy. What we believe is alchemically translated into the body through nerve pathways, the endocrine system, neuropeptide circulation, the immune network, and the digestive tract.
Can you see the importance of your inner world when it comes to metabolizing a meal? Are you ready to bring your happier and more relaxed self to the table?
I love to hear your thoughts and insights. Please share your own stories about the power of the mind to influence a meal.
My warmest regards,
Founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating
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Interesting site. I just saw this site for the first time! I liked the “Unusual toxins” post too.
You’ve stated the problem. Now what’s the clear solution for those of us who’ve struggled with weight issues and food guilt all of our lives. How do we begin to unravel years of counterproductive thinking?
Hi Lisa,
My name is Karna Nau and I am the Director of Student Relations here at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating.
What a great question! Marc has dedicate this entire blog to concrete ways of letting go of beliefs around food and body that no longer serve you.
Check out these blog posts for more tips and ideas:
http://psychologyofeating.com/losing-weight-4-things-that-work-4-things-that-dont/
http://psychologyofeating.com/fix-eating-challenge/
http://psychologyofeating.com/the-metabolic-power-of-vitamin-a-awareness/
http://psychologyofeating.com/are-you-suffering-from-toxic-nutritional-beliefs/
Another excellent resource is Marc’s book “The Slow Down Diet” – if you are interested you can purchase it here: http://psychologyofeating.com/shop/products/
If you join us on FB you can get daily quotes that are aimed to inspire you on the journey to a new way to relate to food and body: http://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage
I hope this helps!
Warm wishes,
Karna Nau
Director of Student Relations
karna@psychologyofeating.com
Work # 303-440-7642
In addition to Marc David’s wonderful suggestions, hypnotherapy can a be powerful tool for changing your relationship to food.
What I’m resonating with after reading this article is how important it is to do ones’ homework, incorporate the best dietary and lifestyle principles into ones’ life-’best’ according to what one feels is truly best for ones’ own self-and USE this powerful effect for maximum benefit to ones’ own health and well-being without reference to or regard for what another might conclude is best for his/her own self, and without judgement toward what others may become convinced is the way they need to eat or live, etc. Just don’t be foolish enough to fall for any hype about it being OK to ingest things that truly are poison. I can live with it. It makes good sense, and clears up a number of gray areas for me. Thanks for this article.
Hi Sue,
Thank you for your comment!
It sounds like you have a great understanding of how to incorporate this work in to your life. Congratulations!
We are glad you are part of this community.
Warm regards,
Marc David
I love reading your thoughts Marc, as I’ve always been fascinated by the combination of psychology and nutrition. I’m interested in looking up the chemo/placebo study you mentioned to read more about it… I did a search online but can’t find it– can you provide a link or reference for me to look into? Thanks! Corinne
Hi Corinne,
Thank you for your kind words!
Here is the source of the study: J.W. Fielding, “Adjunct Chemotherapy in Operable Gastric Cancer” world Journal of Surgery 7, no. 3, 1983
We are so glad that you are intrigued by this work.
Warmly,
Marc David
Brilliant and insightful! It excites me to know there’s so much more to food than what most people think they know. I am proud to learn from you and your staff so I can be involved in spreading the word and helping people navigate through their discomforts around food. Thank You!
Hi Michele,
Thank you for your willingness to spread the good word about the work that we do here at IPE.
We are very grateful that you are in our training.
Warm regards,
Marc David
Good information but it’s interesting to know the original source of it.
Hi Natalie,
Thank you for your comment!
The source can be found here: J.W. Fielding, “Adjunct Chemotherapy in Operable Gastric Cancer” world Journal of Surgery 7, no. 3, 1983
Warm regards,
Marc David
Would these ideas be transferrable in some way to people with serious illnesses in which some foods might make them much more ill? It just seems that when you are seriously ill the whole “food thing” becomes so much more stressful and difficult. My best friend has sarcoidosis. She is very ill. We don’t agree on whether or not what we eat can affect a medical condition. I believe that it does and that it could at least improve her quality of life. She feels she’s tried some dietary changes and they didn’t work.
Hi,
My name is Karna Nau and I am the Director of Student Relations here at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating.
This is a delicate area indeed, as you mention. There really is too much information out there supporting how food can act as medicine to say that there is no relationship between what you eat and your healing process. As always though, each person has a unique relationship with food, and what works for one person may not work for another. There can also be much trial and error associated with trying to find a diet that will support a specific condition, hence the frustration on your friend’s part. It’s always hard when a loved one we know is going through a disease and you know that diet changes would be helpful for them. Sometimes, despite out best efforts, we have to accept that each person is on their own soul journey and they have something important to learn through their experience. I would suggest that you not put too much attention being concerned about these ideas being transferable in some way to people with serious illnesses in which some foods might make them much more ill. We can’t force people to do a diet strategy that they’re not truly inspired or called to do. And, it might be beneficial to put your friend in touch with a coach or professional that can be a support for her in making dietary changes if she is willing to look at the foods she eats.
I hope this helps,
Karna
Each article you write provides wonderful insight. To become cognizant how the parasympathetic stimulation of “rest-and-digest” factors into relaxation, acceptance and positive thinking was another article I enjoyed. “Guilt-food—Shame-body—Judgment-health” clearly play a role in brain chemistry and biochemical responses. Showing a relationship between the sympathetic and parasympathetic, and how they partner with other brain areas affecting digestion and metabolism is so important in the healing process.
Learning to not judge what we eat or feel guilty about eating the “wrong foods” brings us to a place of self-acceptance. In my practice, learning to love ourselves and to listen to our own body wisdom we become mindful of our thoughts, behaviors and choices.
With appreciation, thank you!
Alice Anne
Alice,
Thank you for your kind words. I am so glad to hear that this body of knowledge is resonating so deeply with you and that you are able to implement pieces of it into your own life and practice – how inspiring! May you continue to touch lives and help people awaken…
Warmly,
Marc David
Great article. I have taken your Food Psychology Coaching course and it has really helped me and my clients! I am new to this group so if you have already written on this, please excuse me… but can you tell us more about how what is called Stress Eating or Emotional Eating affects our CNS? A lot of my weight loss clients tell me they can’t lose weight because they eat more when they are stressed out. And for people who practically live in chronic stress, what advise can you give to them that will help them lose the weight they have gained by emotional eating?
Hi Gayle,
Karna here from IPE. We are so happy to hear that the course was beneficial for you! Its very motivating to know that we are affecting lives in a positive way. In regard to your question about emotional eating, Marc has written some amazing blogs on this topic that may be helpful for you:
The Stress- Metabolism Connection ( http://psychologyofeating.com/the-stress-metabolism-connection/ )
Emotion Eating – Is it really a problem ( http://psychologyofeating.com/emotional-eating-is-it-really-a-problem/ ).
I also highly recommend reading Marc’s bestselling book The Slow Down Diet that has much information about how the stress response affects our Central Nervous System as well as the stress – weight gain connection.
You can purchase it here: http://psychologyofeating.com/shop/products/
I hope that these help. Keep up the great work you’re doing in the world.
Warmly,
Karna
Everything on this site speaks directly to me!
And this article just makes me SO happy to read, and makes SO much sense.
Thank you for all that you’re doing!!!
Hi Jessica -
Lindsay here at IPE. Thank you for your kind words!
We are thrilled that you find this information useful.
The concept presented here is interesting and intuitively credible, but absolutely no evidence is presented to back up the claims made in this article. I cannot buy into the premeses presented here when theyhave been left completely unsupported.
Hi Freida,
I agree that it’s a fascinating article! For more information on this topic, including the scientific references here below, please read Marc’s book the Slow Down Diet.
We suggest that you purchase the book so you can see all the references. You can find a link to purchase it here: http://psychologyofeating.com/shop/products/
1. Ernest Rossi, The Psychobiology of Mind-Body Healing (New York: Norton, 1986). This book offers some excellent science, insight, and diagrams regarding the mind-body connection.
2. J. W. Fielding, “Adjunct Chemotherapy in Operable Gastric Cancer,” World Journal of Surgery 7, no. 3 (1983)
3. “Placebo – The Hidden Asset in Healing” in Investigations, Institute of Noetic Sciences Research Bulletin 2, no. 14 (1985).
4. D. S. Moore, Statistics: Concepts and Controversies (New York: Freeman, 1995).
5. S B. Penick “The effect of expectation on response to phenmetrazine,” Psychosomatic Medicine 26, no.4 (1964).
6. Kenneth Cooper, The Antioxidant Revolution (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994).
Thank you.
Karna Nau
Director of Student Relations
karna@psychologyofeating.com
Work # 303-440-7642
http://www.psychologyofeating.com
Very interesting article.
I read a similar article many years ago, way before the internet. From what I recollect is that if you eat a food in which you have a negative perception or belief of, then it will have a negative or toxic effect on your body.
I always felt guilty about having the occasional treat, which is counter-productive because a treat should be enjoyed. Next time I’m not going to feel guilty but enjoy every morsel of that ice cream.
Many thanks for posting this.
Hi Maria –
Thank you for sharing this! You are so welcome.
It’s important that we not only listen to our body’s desire for food, but also its request for a proper uplifting relationship with food as well.
Good for you!
Best,
Marc David
Has anyone else read “Dying to be Me” by A Moorjani? It’s wonderful for many reasons, and specifically what she discovered about food. She said before she got cancer, she says “I was paranoid about what I ate… strict vegetarian, only organic foods, vitamin supplements, wheatgrass… I used to eat very healthfully, but did so out of fear. Now I eat whatever I am drawn to.” (pg 182)
She was Hindu raised in Hong Kong. When she first learned she had cancer, she looked into Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, and western naturopathic systems. She said each system espoused a different, conflicting truth, which only added fear.
Hi Thea,
Thank you for sharing this perspective. I’m not familiar with the book but what a fascinating confirmation of these ideas: fear is quite indigestible.
This is why it is so important for us to become an expert in ourselves. This is not to say that the medical communities (traditional and alternative) have no good to offer – but: we also have to become fluent in our language, and be able to feel into the cues and hints that our bodies are employing to get our attention.
Best,
Marc David
That is an interesting article. However I do have a question – how come even those who do not feel guilty about eating anything still gain weight? You mentioned that “inhibitory signals in the nervous system can decrease your calorie-burning efficiency via increased insulin and cortisol, which would cause you to store more of your guilt-infused ice cream as body fat.” That makes sense, but still, people who have no bad thoughts about the food they eat and who enjoy every bite of it without talking down on themselves, still gain as much weight as people who feel guilty… I am curious to hear your thoughts on that.
thank you for interesting article!
Hi Yuliya –
Great Question. I was trying to point out that guilt, anxiety, shame, and various negative emotions can have a metabolic effect on the body and cause weight gain via the stress response and its associated chemistry. However, this does not mean that if one had none of these emotions that one would still not gain weight. It all depends on each individual eater, their diet, lifestyle, health, age, meal timing, amount of food eaten, exercise frequency, macronutrient balance, and so many other factors that mix together to determine our weight.
I hope this clears things up.
Best,
Marc David