We invest food with so much meaning, and rightly so: it changes our mood, it strengthens our relationships when we eat together and food choices express who we are.
But food has a dark side. We worry about eating unhealthy, about weight gain and how we can control our intake. Eating is not just pleasure; it is also about the struggle with ourselves.
In the last few decades we’ve learnt an enormous amount about the psychology of food.
Too many points to try to summarise, so here are all 20 insights simply listed:
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America’s [and almost everyone else’s?] terrible relationship with food
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You don’t know when you’re really full
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Fat = bad?
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It’s never ‘just lunch’
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Taste fades with age
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Carrots taste weird for breakfast
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Fat waitress = fat customer
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Fat friends = fat self
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Eating intentions are beaten by habits
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Mindless eating
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Suppressing food thoughts leads to bingeing
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If it’s healthy, you can eat more! [unfortunately not true]
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Anyone for smoked salmon ice-cream?
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Label it full-fat and it tastes better
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Bad moods make you eat bad stuff
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Healthy foods improve your mood
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I won’t have what she’s having
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Small changes beat weird crash diets
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The Pepsi challenge
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I’m eating an idea and it’s a tasty one!