#7: Pause at the Plate: The First in a Series
The Reasons Why The Foods Make It So DAMN Difficult!
Pause to Consider #1
How long does it take you to finish your typical meal? Without overthinking it, is it more like 15 or 20 minutes+ or more likely LESS than 15 minutes and often going into the single digits…? We’ll talk about why this matters in this series.
Pause to Consider #2
We have an epidemic of mindless and fast eating which is linked to multiple factors. Take a few of the following trends and contributors:
Since 1961, while our work and leisure activity has declined our average caloric intake has increased by 24% from 2880 to 3600 calories a day:
These extra calories end up being from less ideal sources including simple carb foods, sugary beverages, unhealthy oils and alcohol.
In fact about 60% of the average American’s diet comes from ultra-processed foods (UPFs) which is conveniently offered up by America’s food supply which is 73% ultra-processed.
The tendency to eat mindlessly is highly linked to being distracted while eating such as when we are on our phones, computers or watching TV.
This eating while distracted (EWD) tends to register smaller signal in brain regions that control satiety because as research has demonstrated the process of feeling full is dependent on the availability of our attention (which is on the screen!).
The sine qua non of this recipe is not that the foods which are often in this scenario are just unhealthy, it’s that they are engineered to prolong and replicate this vicious cycle. This is because the ultra-processed and ultra-palatable foods foods we consume tend to accentuate signals in our reward centers similar to other addictive substances. Here is a great review of this phenomenon by Dr. Robert Lustig of UCSF).
Put it together and you have the set up for our introduction to this series of posts on Pausing at the Plate.
My Personal Journey to Pause at the Plate
I’ve wanted to write about the importance of pausing at the plate, i.e. mindful eating for some time. While I've tried to compress all the ways and reasons to do so into one post, I've come to the conclusion that it's better to break this up into a few bite-sized nuggets (pardon the pun) to help unpack this complex and often personal topic. There are often multiple cues and circumstances which get us here and its important to recognize those upfront. So I’ll start with my story:
In many ways I was destined to be a speed eater, aka fast eater aka mindless eater. First, as a young refugee when food and other belongings were suddenly not guaranteed, each plate was not to be taken for granted. This often meant that what was on the plate was quickly and completely consumed. Next, you transplant that kid to grow up in Las Vegas where buffet dining was a competitive sport and cheap food was plentiful. Third, that kid becomes a medical resident where he’s trained to consume a “meal” in 1-2 minutes in between pages from the ER about the next admission.
So I’ve spent nearly my whole life trying to fight those urges. That being said I know for some, the subject of food and how it is consumed is more than a casual topic and one linked to significant behavioral and medical consequences. That is why I highly recommend for those who recognize the need, to seek help from professionals or organizations set up to provide support when it’s needed.
With that lets dive into the topic:
Why Are Americans Speed Easters?
There are three main categories (which are often intersecting) to help understand this phenomenon, namely:
What we Eat (The Food)
When/Where/Who we Eat with (The Context)
The Pattern (The History)
Today we’ll start with the most obvious - What We Eat - as a key culprit in fast eating and mindless eating and this starts with those fun occasional ultra-processed foods (UPFs) that now make up more than half of Americans’ diets. What happens when we consume unprocessed foods such as an apple vs ultra-processed foods that don’t look anything like that apple? I highly recommend this Washington Post article Melted, pounded, extruded: Why many ultra-processed foods are unhealthy which unapologetically takes us on a graphic journey of making that corn chip…
Next, you add to this mix hyper-palatable foods (HPFs). As Professor Tim Spector notes in his recent excellent Substack which I would highly recommend checking out, while there is a large crossover between UPFs and HPFs, what makes HPFs even more sinister is the highly addictive combination of fats, sugars and salts.
Specifically, as Spector points from research from Dr Tera Fazzino, the playbook is:
Fat + sodium (> 25% kcal from fat, ≥ 0.30% sodium by weight),
Fat + simple sugars (> 20% kcal from fat, > 20% kcal from sugar)
Carbs + sodium (> 40% kcal from carbohydrates, ≥ 0.20% sodium by weight)
The key first way to recognize UPFs is that don’t exist in nature! You will not find that Trenti Salted Caramel Frap growing on a tree. You will not run into a supersized Salt and Vinegar Potato Chip bush in your backyard (Sorry?) They are made in labs with the absolute aim of making sure you lose the bet that Lay’s started making in 1963: "Betcha can't eat just one!"
For even more on this please check out the brilliant Journalist Michael Moss’s writings on this including Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us as well as another great Washington Post article on 9 ways to spot ultra-processed foods (we’ll come back to this when we discuss strategies for mindful eating). When you put this all together:
The ultimate goal of UPFs and UPFs is to make us: Eat More, Eat Fast, Eat Distracted and Not Move.
Here’s a run down on the evidence:
When Dr. Kevin Hall of the NIH and colleagues randomed 20 particpants to eat processed vs unprocessed food for 14 days each in a highly controlled inpatient trial, they found some very immediate results.
Eat Faster: Overall the processed participants had a faster pace of eating of ~ 50 calories per minute vs 30.
Eat More: Based on number of factors we discussed including the rate of eating, high palatability and caloric density as well as reduced satiety signals the processed food arm ate about 500 more calories a day. This over a few short 2 week period already demonstrated trends for weight gain.
Eat Distracted without Movement: Ultra-processed food intake goes hand in hand with convenience and distraction. They are meant to be conveniently delivered, picked up on the drive through and consumed mindlessly or en route to somewhere else. They are advertised as the thing to enjoy when you are gaming and streaming.
Access and Affordability: It’s true: UPFs come at a cheaper price vs similar unprocssed foods. While this adds an obvious layer of convenience to the already difficult to resist foods we’ve mentioned, I want to take a moment to recognize food privilege. We need to recognize that many of the factors mentioned above specifically target communities that are already impacted by food deserts and with greater difficulty accessing the ideal food supply that many are accustomed to. This phenomenon is true in many communities in the United States and internationally which are unfortunately replicating these trends. It is important to note this now and when we discuss potential solutions for mindful eating to recognize the very real circumstances that are present for many Americans.
So as we close this post we have our first very real obstacle to slow and mindful eating - The Foods! More clearly stated, these are the often “food” substances and chemicals that are flooding our dinner tables or more likely our to-go containers, supermarket and “convenience” store pre-packaged goods and car cup holders. It is important to start with this stark reality and the hard evidence of how these foods are set up to make it easy to fail as a mindful eater. At the same time, that recognition is key in stopping the way we often shame ourselves when we are not perfect with what we eat or how fast we eat it and begin to recognize our ability to slowly move our hand out of the potato chip bag. And lets be honest, its not about NEVER EVER indulging in these foods. It is about using Pause and awareness to more confidently remind ourselves of our ability to decide when and where we are going to treat ourselves to get the most out of it while creating healthier long-term patterns.
In the next post we’ll cover how our eating environment (yes, I’m talking about eating at the desk and more) contribute to this phenomenon.
I look forward to your comments and messages as we continue this topic
Until we meet again, May you find Pause in your day (and meals), RB 🙏