Highly Palatable Foods and Over-eating

Modern life is a bit different than Epicurus' time...we have highly processed foods that are made to be highly palatable, and they are easy to get.

Here are two articles:

Excerpt:

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Hormonal and neurobiological changes occur when individuals consume processed foods, especially highly palatable foods that are rich in sugar, fat and salt. These changes can contribute to the development of addictive behaviours and, ultimately, addiction.

It is well established that derangement of hormones can contribute to this process. Ghrelin is responsible for regulating hunger. Elevated ghrelin levels can drive hunger and increase food intake. On the other hand, leptin is responsible for signalling satiety and inhibiting food intake. Consumption of highly palatable foods, particularly those high in sugar, fat and salt, has been shown to disrupt the balance of these hormones; for example, it can increase ghrelin levels. As a result, individuals may experience increased cravings and overeating as signals for hunger and fullness become dysregulated. Additionally, consumption of processed foods has been hypothesised to lead to leptin resistance, where the body no longer responds to satiety signals.⁹ Disruptions in the normal interplay between ghrelin and leptin can result in overeating and continued consumption of these foods.

Source:

One size does not fit all: Understanding the five stages of ultra-processed food addiction | Tarman | Journal of Metabolic Health

Another excerpt:

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The reasons that our bodies crave these foods is because they are loaded with ingredients that tap into the pleasure centers in our brain.

Source:

Here are some articles on how to change to healthier eating patterns. These are all common sense, but yet sometimes hard to implement:

Limit highly processed foods

Preparing foods with healthy ingredients and choosing healthier menu options are ways to limit highly processed foods.

food-guide.canada.ca

Healthy eating while eating out

The food choices you make when eating outside of the home are important. Learn how to make healthier choices when you are eating out.

food-guide.canada.ca

Choose healthy menu options

Choosing healthy menu options when you are eating out can be an important step to limiting highly processed foods. If you eat out often, remember that the…

food-guide.canada.ca

When I think about what I choose to eat, it's not so much about living longer, but more about quality of life ---> having and feeling good energy in my body and not carrying any extra weight (ideally I need to lose about 5 to 10 lbs.). I notice that I feel sluggish when I over-eat and I don't like the feeling when my pants waistband is too tight. I need to start implementing some changes and only bring home healthy and unprocessed foods into my house.

Is anyone else feeling like this is an issue in their life right now?

I am going to be using this 6 part model to cope with sugar and carb withdrawl urges, as I've now depleted my highly processed snacks and chocolate stash, and I will start eating more carrots, apples, and vegetables because I want to gain greater health.

And as it states in Letter to Menoeceus:

"And because this is the primary and inborn good, we do not choose every pleasure. Instead, we pass up many pleasures when we will gain more of what we need from doing so. And we consider many pains to be better than pleasures, if we experience a greater pleasure for a long time from having endured those pains. So every pleasure is a good thing because its nature is favorable to us, yet not every pleasure is to be chosen — just as every pain is a bad thing, yet not every pain is always to be shunned. It is proper to make all these decisions through measuring things side by side and looking at both the advantages and disadvantages, for sometimes we treat a good thing as bad and a bad thing as good."

"Fourth, we hold that self-reliance is a great good — not so that we will always have only a few things but so that if we do not have much we will rejoice in the few things we have, firmly persuaded that those who need luxury the least enjoy it the most, and that everything natural is easily obtained whereas everything groundless is hard to get. So simple flavors bring just as much pleasure as a fancy diet if all pain from true need has been removed..."