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Satisfaction Essential to Healthy Weight Management
Contrary to popular belief, many nutrition experts
feel that enjoyment of food is a necessary part of healthy eating. When food is
enjoyed, people feel satisfied and are more likely to rely on internal cues to
stop eating.
A recent study conducted at Cornell University supports this point of view.
Researchers looked for an explanation to what is known as the French
paradox—that is, why don’t the French get as heavy as Americans, or have the
same rate of heart disease, when they eat all that fat-laden cheese, pate, and
pastries? The Cornell research found that a significant difference between
French and American eaters is how people decide to stop eating. We Americans are
more likely to use external cues, like a clean plate or the end of a TV
program we’re watching, to decide when to stop eating. The French, on the other
hand, use internal cues like feeling full and satisfied. Interestingly, in both
countries, the heavier the person, the more likely they were to rely on external
cues.
Diets and most
weight management plans emphasize external cues by specifying what and how much
to eat. Dieters are encouraged to disregard internal cues in the name of ‘self
control.’ Pleasurable, satisfying eating is ignored or even scorned. No wonder
diets are unsuccessful! They put people at war with their bodies and the
perfectly natural desire to eat food that tastes good.
In future
issues of Celebrate! we’ll look more at the relationship between eating
satisfaction, weight management and good health.
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