What is food habituation?

Could our repeated exposure to foods change our perception of them and the way we consume them? Learn about food habituation!

Food is fuel. At least that’s one way to look at it. I don’t think, though, that most of us humans eat for the sole purpose of refilling our body’s reservoirs. Our taste buds would never agree to that. There is probably not a single person in this world who does not have favorite flavors and foods that they really like. At the same time, a very large percentage of people have a personal list of “forbidden” foods that they find irresistible and prefer to avoid because they are afraid of overeating. In addition, it is often observed after a continuous long-term consumption of a certain food, that we get tired of its taste and that we would literally prefer to starve than eat it even once more. (Surely the phrase “Not chicken again!!” rings a bell…) All of the above have been studied by scientists and their conclusions are summarized under the concept of habituation.

What is habituation?

Habituation is defined as a general behavioral process that describes the reduction in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure to it. Simply put, when we are constantly presented with something, we gradually get used to it and our initial reaction to it weakens. It’s actually the power of habit in our eating behavior.

What is the relationship between habituation and eating?

By researching human reactions to food stimuli, scientists have extensively studied the phenomenon of food habituation. Repeated exposure to food stimuli causes a gradual decrease in human response to it. Our familiarity with a food is also one of the reasons why we may stop consuming it. In simple terms, we just get bored of eating the same food. It is also proven that habituation is strongly related to body weight, as people who are overweight or obese seem to delay the habituation process, resulting in a higher energy intake from their meals. The speed of habituation is also influenced by other factors, such as distractors during meals, possible eating disorders, the variety of foods available, and simultaneous non-food stimuli. However, all research reach the same common conclusion. Daily exposure to a food stimulus results in faster habituation and, subsequently, a reduction in its consumption.

What is food habituation? | offadiet.com

How the habituation process is disrupted

People who eat instinctively and choose their meals by listening to their bodies’ cues, are habituated with most of the foods they have chosen to include in their diet. The ones with which they are not, are the ones that rarely appear at their table – such as a special festive dessert – and they know that these foods are the only ones that they’re likely to overeat in this particular occasion. People who don’t eat intuitively however, and unfortunately make up the vast majority, choose their food by adherence to their food lists. Diet culture has taught them to distinguish between “good” and “bad” foods. And among the “bad” foods are many of the ones they really like. In their minds these “bad” foods are placed on the highest rung of their food preferences’ pedestal, and they only glance at them from below, as the sinful and forbidden. As a result, habituation never happens and the reaction to the food stimulus remains as intense as the first time they tasted this food they liked. In addition, in the rare occasion they happen to enjoy one of these forbidden foods, they punish themselves by self-imposing complete deprivation. Which simply is the safest and quicker road to overeating. Because the human brain does not react positively to complete deprivation. Simply put, the more often we see a food we like as one of our choices, the faster our mind gets used to it and the less likely we are to overeat it. In other words, when the food is no longer “bad” and forbidden, we take it down from the pedestal!

In practice…

If you are already feeling insecure around foods that you have considered forbidden for years, and you don’t trust yourself with them, you realize that, according to all of the above, your reaction is completely normal. You have never been habituated to them and when you happen to come across this food, your reaction can become extreme. Getting rid of the “bad” food mentality takes time and effort. The first, instinctive reaction of your mind to the end of deprivation will be overeating. But when the mind realizes that this food is no longer forbidden, the process of habituation will restart and its influence will gradually diminish.

Any seasonal and traditional foods that appear in front of us once a year, cannot undergo the process of habituation because we are not exposed to them long enough. Therefore, it makes sense to have an intense reaction to them and want them more, since we are not used to them. But if you have been depriving yourself of any favorite food that you see almost daily, you’d better think again. Consumption in moderation is usually more effective than deprivation in the prevention of overeating. If, for example, you love chocolate and have forbidden yourself to eat it, think about whether it would be better to allow yourself a specific amount each week. This way, habituation will be achieved and deprivation will stop having a huge impact on your brain along with all the side effects.

Conclusion

Food habituation is a normal behavioral process that requires time and repetitive food stimuli. By considering foods we like as forbidden, we interrupt the normal process of habituation and at the same time experience all the negative results of deprivation. It is important to realize that there are no good and bad foods but foods that affect our bodies differently and we need them in different amounts. Balance, after all, is the key to proper nutrition.