But I’m not addicted to chocolate. For me, overeating M&Ms is situational—the latest manifestation of a chronic procrastination problem that gets worse when I’m under the gun and low on sleep. And, in fact, dealing with issues like stress and too little sleep can help “cure” food cravings, Volkow told Gorman recently. Here are her tips to stave off overeating*:
2. Take one flavor at a time. “If I give you just one item, say, apples, you will get saturated with the flavor of apples,” says Volkow. “But if I mixed different alternative flavors, you actually can go from one to the other,” eating a lot more than if you only had one type of food on your plate. So keep your meal relatively simple.
3. Ban eating in the car and in front of the TV. “Set up a space for eating so these other activities and spaces don’t get conditioned with the food,” suggests Volkow. Then eat only at the table, using a plate and doing nothing but eating and talking to your tablemates.
5. Keep your cool. “When a person is stressed, that decreases their ability to exert control over desires,” says Volkow. Squelch your stress with exercise: you can schedule daily workouts for a natural high. Volkow also recommends keeping your workout bag packed and ready to use during high-pressure times. “If I am in a very stressful condition,” she says, “I go and I run.”
Health claims
The United States, health-related claims on
nutrition facts labels are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), while advertising is regulated by the
Federal Trade Commission. According to the FDA, "Health claims describe a relationship between a food, food component, or dietary supplement ingredient, and reducing risk of a disease or health-related condition".
In general, claims of health benefits for specific foodstuffs have not been evaluated by national regulatory agencies. Additionally, research funded by manufacturers or marketers that may form the basis of such marketing claims has been shown to result in more favorable results than independently funded research.
While there is no precise definition for "health food", the
United States Food and Drug Administration has warned food manufacturers against labeling foods as being "healthy" when they have a high sugar, salt, or fat content.
Examples
The following is a non-exhaustive list of foods considered healthy:
- Apple cider vinegar, a fruit vinegar considered a health food
- Broccoli sprouts
- Certain cereal products
- Corn flakes, patented food invented in 1894
- Digestive biscuit, English baked good from 1851, containing fiber and sometimes sodium bicarbonate
- Graham cracker, cracker made with whole grain Graham flour (1829)
- Graham bread, a type of whole wheat bread
- Granola, a food made from mixed, toasted grains
- Granula, the first manufactured breakfast cereal (1863)
- Grape-Nuts, an American breakfast cereal made from baked and ground grain (1897)
- Muesli, breakfast cereal of rolled oats, fruit and nuts, made by a Swiss doctor (1900)
- Shredded wheat, whole wheat cereal (1893)
- Herbal extract, plants, often medicinal that are concentrated and standardized
- Herbal teas
- Honey, a naturally occurring whole sweetener
- Malt, whole sprouted barley
- Meat analogue, a dietary alternative to meat, found in health vegetarian and vegan diets
- Molasses, black strap molasses has been sold as a health food
- Certain oils, including olive oil and fish oil
- Postum, a coffee alternative from 1895
- Yogurt, traditional cultured milk product
Be a Healthy Eating Role Model
Parents are role models and the most
important influence in their children’s lives.
Your attitude about food and eating habits might
influence your children:
Do you skip breakfast?
Do you drink sodas rather than milk with your
meals?
Do you diet all the time and have a fear of (or
talk about) eating “bad” food?
Do you snack all day long?
Do you eat in front of the TV?
Do you eat whenever you are bored or under
stress?
If you answered “yes” to more than a few of these
questions, you are likely sending unhealthy messages
to your child about food.
Healthy Eating Starts
With Parents
Modeling healthy eating supports the development of
healthy behaviors in children. Here are a few healthy
eating habits parents can role model for their children:
Never skip meals—especially breakfast.
Take moderate portions.
Limit junk food in the house.
Drink water and milk instead of soda.
Eat foods from all food groups—milk, fruit, vegetables,
whole grains and lean meats, fish & beans.
Try fruit and yogurt for dessert.
Teaching Healthy Habits at
Mealtime
Children won’t perceive healthy eating as important if it
is not something that they see you doing.
Eat the way you want your child to eat—try new
foods together but don’t force your children to try
them.
Avoid emphasizing “good” and “bad” foods—teach
your child that he or she needs to balance nutritious
food with fun snacks.
Show ways for managing stress that do not include
eating.
Encourage your kids to help prepare meals, set the
table and help with dishes.
Enjoy your meals—positive attitudes are contagious!
Eating meals as a family plays a key role in raising high achieving,
healthy and well-adjusted children.
Improved Academic Achievement
Frequent family meals are linked with being successful in
school, including getting better grades and scoring higher on
achievement tests.
Better Nutrition
Family meals contribute to higher daily intakes of important
nutrients like calcium, fiber, iron, vitamins B6 and B12, C and
E, and less overall dietary fat.
Higher Self-Esteem
Mealtime conversation brings the family together, promotes
positive self-esteem in children and starts a lasting and positive
relationship with food.
Making Mealtime Family Time
Family meals should be dynamic—an
exchange of ideas, conversation and feelings.
Mealtime is a wonderful opportunity to
strengthen family ties and pass on family
cultural traditions.
Eat together as a family whenever
possible.
Keep mealtime pleasant—avoid power
struggles over what gets eaten, and
remember that mealtime is not a time
for discipline.
Turn off the TV, video games, mobile phones and the
computer.
Use conversation-starters to get children talking, such as
“What is the best thing that happened today at school?”
Most parents tend to worry about what their kids are eating since nutrition is so important to good health. As adults, we can more easily make the decision to eat food that is delicious and nutritious, but children can be picky eaters, liking only foods that are easy on the palate. It takes patience and a strategy to get your kid to eat a wide range of nutritious foods.
Conclusion: Living a Healthy Diet for the Rest of Your Life
The more we eat healthy, the less natural it feels to reach for a piece of cookie or a bag of chips when we get hungry. It is then not a matter of depriving ourselves or forcing ourselves, but simply a conscious recognition of respecting what feels the best for our body in the long-term run.
When we eat healthy, we physically feel good. We mentally have more energy to do the things that matter. When we are both globally conscious and personally healthy in our eating choices, we are contributing to the welfare of the planet. Our decision to practice healthy eating habits has so many consequences in so many ways.
Now that you have all the information you need on eating healthy, the most important action step you can do is to maintain this lifestyle choice as much as possible. Post intents when you need motivation from others. Keep a diary of your food choices on your blog or journal. Talk to other people when you are feeling tempted to indulge in unhealthy desserts.
Eating healthy, after all, is not about losing your ability to enjoy indulgences. It is a matter of gaining so many things that will affect you for the rest of your life: a longer life, the ability to enjoy natural foods, a wholesome sense of self-esteem and the joy of respecting your body for all that it does for you.
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