5 Tips For A Healthier Diet

New facts & findings on healthy eating.

We make an astonishing number of food decisions every day – more than 200, in fact. Of course, we’re not aware of all these decisions, as on many occasions it’s our subconscious coming into play. On the one hand, this allows us to focus more on other things, but on the other hand, it can lead to not-so-healthy decisions, especially when it comes to something as emotionally charged as eating. But how can we navigate this maze, become smarter eaters, and really enjoy food if we don’t even know the role our mind and brain play in our daily food choices?

Thankfully, research in this area has made great progress in recent years – a stroke of luck not only for our health, but also for our enjoyment of the food on our plates.

DISCOVER YOUR FOOD RADIUS

We’ve barely woken up, and we’re already thinking about food. Where should we get coffee, and what will you have with it? Where’s a nice place to have lunch, and with whom? Sushi or pizza after work? And what do we need to top up in the fridge? We make 80 per cent of all food decisions at home, or in the nearby area. Our direct home environment, and a small radius of less than 10 km around it, determines how and where we satisfy our hunger and culinary cravings every day. Psychologist Brian Wansink calls it the “food radius”.

We notice the degree to which this becomes a habit as soon as our food radius changes, like when we go on holiday. No matter where we are, we immediately test the new territory’s culinary suitability and establish rituals because most of us are extremely ritualised – or simply in our comfort zone – when it comes to shopping and eating. This sense of comfort is based on an ecological principle known as optimal foraging. According to this principle, we prefer to seek food sources which guarantee maximum net energy intake for the lowest amount of energy expended.