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Could Food Diversity be Causing Obesity?

16 Replies

 

Here’s an interesting theory on the cause for rising obesity rates. Researchers have conducted experiments to assess the validity of their theory that the abundance of food choices promotes, in some people, excess consumption:

In the study out of the State University of New York at Buffalo, scientists found that both obese and non-obese women who were given macaroni and cheese daily for five days reduced their intake, compared to women who were given macaroni and cheese once a week for five weeks. read more…

Another study found that changing the number of colors in a bowl of M&Ms from 7 to 10 different colors, increased consumption by 43%.

We would add that a supermarket lined with tens of thousands of products makes us want to buy more food. Oversize fridges and pantries filled with ready to eat processed foods that don’t require any work other than a 2 minute zap in the microwave certainly make it easy to eat more.

On the other hand, who would want to live in a world where we eat the same fare over and over?

Additionally, as many parents know, children actually like monotony in their daily routine. It includes seeing the same move over and over, asking to be read the same stories night after night, and being to able to eat the same spaghetti and tomato sauce for 5 straight dinners if given a choice.

What do you think?
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  • http://www.facebook.com/kenleebow Ken Leebow

    When it comes to research, there’s a cartoon for that . . . http://bit.ly/eHwYmv

  • CSG

    I think this my answer to complaints about left overs!

  • Francabruni

    NO!!!! portion, portion, portion, portion….oh…. & did i mention portion!!!!!

  • http://www.weightloss-team.com Ramona

    This makes sense indeed. When having a ‘boring’ meal we tend to eat less, but, when there’s many ingredients and variants, we’d like to try this and that and that. Still, portion control is very important too, as another commenter mentioned here. The problem is that most of the time the portions are ginormous too.

  • http://profiles.google.com/hays.mhays Michele Hays

    Do you remember when M&Ms were all shades of grey for a month or so?  I bought one (knowing the study, so possibly biased) and found it surprisingly easy to put the bag down.  Yes, portion control is important – but we tend to ignore portions when the food is new and appealing.

    There’s another aspect of food diversity: not only are foods more diverse, they are omnipresent.  Look around, I bet there’s at least one food ad in the room with you, be it on your computer or tv or just the package your food comes in. 

    “Portion control” and “nutrition education” are common themes in the fight against obesity, but I don’t think either fully answer the question of why people overeat unhealthy foods.  I am an advocate for personal responsibility, but if people are reacting to unconscious triggers, we can hardly blame them for making poor choices.

  • http://www.UrbanOrganicGardener.com Mike Lieberman

    Never thought of it this way before, but makes sense. We are programmed for certain tastes that evolution hasn’t adapted to yet. We live in a time that we are bombarded with them and the shut off switch isn’t built in.

  • Treena W.

    We live in a world of overindulgence with our culture promoting it.  The biggest culprit causing us to overeat is the manipulation of our foods.  Processed foods contain additives and chemicals that are labelled under “flavors”.  The first bite usually stimulates the urge to eat more. 

    In my book, EATING OURSELVES CRAZY, I discuss how certain foods rewire our brains causing food addictions and an emotional dependency on foods.  As a Registered Social Worker, former bulimic and owner of a weight-loss business, I focus on emotional-eating and how to conquer it.

    • Jackson

      You and your constant touting of your book is getting quite irritating.

  • Jim Cooper

    If all the food I got to choose from was as disgusting as that in the steam table picture above, weight loss would be a snap. Seriously, there needs to be quite a bit more research before I swallow this one.

  • Yoymisminiyos

    I think is the quality, not the variety that its making us obese. You can eat as much variety of fruit and vegetables, believe me, that won’t make you fat and on the contrary it will have a lot of benefits for you (the more colour and varitey the better!)

  • Lisa

    Some people still can’t get over the misconception that healthy equals boring. With all of the seasonings and spices you can put on foods, there’s always a way to make the same meal taste different. Because of this, I don’t mind eating the same things day to day.

  • http://feedingmytribe.wordpress.com/ FeedingMyTribe

    Interesting article.  I often wonder if one (of the many) reasons that societies more removed from their roots (those that experience what is called diseases of civilization) have more issues with obesity.  We can have Italian food on Monday, Chinese on Tuesday, Mexican on Wednesday, etc.  If we had a more limited choice, such as beans and rice every night, would we eat as much?  Probably not.

  • http://twitter.com/Verdi_Michael Michael Verdi

    I cannot believe scientist actually got funding to research this theory.  What’s next? A study that hypothesizes people who drink soda have a higher chance of diabetes?  This stuff is so obvious, its mind blowing.

  • http://twitter.com/Verdi_Michael Michael Verdi

    I cannot believe scientist actually got funding to research this theory.  What’s next? A study that hypothesizes people who drink soda have a higher chance of diabetes?  This stuff is so obvious, its mind blowing.

  • http://twitter.com/HeartSisters carolyn thomas

    Okay, that does it. I’m taking all the green, orange and yellow M&Ms out of the bowl right now…. :-)

    This study’s observations make sense to me.  “….people lose interest in food and
    reduce their consumption when they are repeatedly exposed to the same
    item – a behavior known as habituation.” 

    This explains why, on dark winter mornings when I have exactly the same breakfast day after day after day after endless day (steel-cut oatmeal and raisins, almonds, cinnamon, skim milk with exactly one-half a banana sliced over the oatmeal), I never ever have the slightest inclination to have more than one helping.  Ever.  But when we go away on little B&B holidays, and the cook brings out heaping breakfast trays of fried eggs, sausages, bacon, ham, muffins, and French toast, we go absolutely nuts.  Sigh….

    Cheers,
    Carolyn

  • Lthomas521

    If we took our meals from an enormous salad bar containing 200 different kinds of vegetables and fruit, would we be overweight? Of course not. We get fat from eating fatty foods and processed foods.
    http://www.gorillaprotein.com/calories_and_weight_loss.html