What About Processed Foods?

Debunking bad research and flawed assumptions about the food environment and “highly processed” foods

This post is from my previous newsletter, Food Psych Weekly.

This week’s question is from a reader named Lori, who writes:

Hi Christy,

I'm a fellow eating-disorders dietitian, and I'll be leading a discussion with my staff based on your podcast number 127 (the first I've listened to, which I very much enjoyed). I have some thoughts that I didn't hear addressed and suspect will be raised by my staff, so I'm wondering if you can address them.

Intuitive eating, and the self-regulation that should result, surely requires overcoming deprivation. I'm with you 200 percent. But someone whose diet is almost exclusively fast food, for instance, or largely highly processed foods, isn't intuitively shifting choices when factors beyond deprivation play a role. Think of Brian Wansink's research and impact on how foods are presented, sensory triggers, etc.

Why don't you, as a dietitian and health advisor, direct individuals to shift food selection—without a black-and-white approach, of course, or shame—regarding these choices? It seems to me, from the work I've done, that discussion of hunger awareness (as well as the role of other triggers to eating) needs to be addressed to start the discussion of internal versus external cues to self-regulation. Looking forward to your thoughts.