Before getting into gentle nutrition, it would help to first know about Intuitive Eating (IE), which is the broader philosophy of healthy eating, of which, gentle nutrition is an aspect.
In a nutshell, The ‘Intuitive Eating’ book states that IE is “Listening to your body” (‘Intuitive Eating’,fourth edition).
For more on Intuitive Eating, refer to this post.
What Is Gentle Nutrition?
In the book, ‘Intuitive Eating’, embracing gentle nutrition is to…
“Make food choices that honour your health and taste buds while making you feel good. Remember you don’t have to eat perfectly to be healthy. You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or become unhealthy from one snack, one meal, or one day of eating. It’s what you eat consistently over time that matters. Progress, not perfection, is what counts”
Intuitive eating book (fourth edition)
Since health has many aspects, to make food choices that honour health means honouring aspects other than just physical health, it can include psychological well-being. Practically, it means having a slice of cake may be healthier than the anxiety produced around the avoidance of it. Indeed, cortisol a waking hormone (2), which is increased in various forms of anxiety (9) and in stressful situations (12), may be associated with anxiety-related overeating of palatable food following restraint (10,1).
Additionally, gentle nutrition acknowledges the bigger picture when considering the impacts of food on health; emphasising that health is not determined in a day, i.e you don’t have to get in “right” at every meal, but it’s how these days impact weeks. With this, the gentle approach encourages flexibility and is permissive which is opposite to the diet-related guilt which can result after succumbing to a forbidden snack.Truly, our body deserves credit, it adapts to maintain equilibrium overtime. For example, excess intake of water-soluble vitamins (C and B vitamins) are eliminated by the body (10) and the interdependence of energy -intake and -expenditure (6) means having too much food could lead to a compensatory increase in the body’s ability to burn calories (4).
Why Is Gentle Nutrition The Final Principle of Intuitive Eating?
Without the right foundation, even well intended nutrition guidance can be adopted as another set of rules.
In my time at university, I invested in a small raggedy plot of land for my flowers, vegetables, and herbs. I recall my first day labouring hard, pulling out long malnourished plants and weeds and overturning the soil with my shovel fork in my knee-high garden boots, travelling to and fro’ the garden heap with my wheelbarrow. It was tiring, but necessary. I had to make sure my soil was well prepared; uprooting weeds and overturning soil to remove rocks, pieces of litter, and other foreign objects that could easily hinder my plants from taking root. Without cultivating these conditions any new growth would easily be smothered by weeds or new seedings would not take root and wither.
Think of this as a metaphor, with IE principles cultivating the soil by removing rocks that hinder gentle nutrition. With this, an individual can embrace a healthy living journey without guilt because the weeds and rocks (think…lingering hope on a quick-fix diet, moralistic labels for foods like “good” and “bad” and the guilt associations attached to them, and getting rid of forbidden-food mindsets) have been addressed.
Simply having the right foundation ensures that eating healthy can be sustained, where heathy eating in the ‘Intuitive Eating’ book is defined as “having a healthy balance of foods and having a healthy relationship with food” (fourth edition).
Gentle nutrition in practice:
1) Embrace variety
The optimum way to make sure your body gets all the nutrients it requires is to have a variety within and among the food groups. Embracing a varied diet will ensure you are getting your macronutrients, vitamins and minerals, avoiding nutrient deficiencies, and getting the disease-fighting phytonutrients (15). Indeed, eating a variety of rich foods such as fruit and vegetables, pulses, whole grains, dairy, fish, meat, and monounsaturated fats has been shown to have health benefits such as a reduced risk of cancers and Parkinson’s (13) and shown improvements in rheumatoid arthritis (11) and has been shown to reduce mortality (5). Here are a few tips to help you increase your food variety:
Be open, explore:
A benefit of having a friend from another culture is the food, especially if you are a foodie like me. Take advantage of this. I was open to my Nepalese friend’s (Hey girl!) delicacies, from green banana pickle (with the skin. Extra fibre, yes please), dhal, and amala (a type of gooseberry, but hard and way more bitter). Did I like all the things I tried, certainly not…sorry bitter gourd. However, this is part of the process of experimenting, to find out what tickles your tastebuds. Also, try recipes from a different country. I’m currently learning Trinidad cuisine, the dhal puris are yummy. So have a go, be open, you don’t know what you may like until you try it.
Experiment with food groups:Fruit and vegetables:
try a new fruit or vegetable every week. Even better, go to a grocery where they sell single items if you are like me and don’t’ want to risk buying a pack of something you don’t end up liking.Take advantage of seasonal produce, come autumn/winter I love my sweet roasted chestnuts, and pumpkin to add depth of flavour to soups. Adorn your veggies, you don’t have to have them on their own, I recently started grating carrot into my rice again.
Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat, and other proteins:
Try substituting meat with beans and other pulses, or even bulk up meat dishes with pulses like chickpeas and lentils. Ever just thought a bowl of fruit salad just wasn’t cutting it, try adding some fruit yogurt (I go with full fat, that’s just me 😊), or even try switching up your milk every now and then, from semi-skimmed, to soya, to almond, just switch it up. We are wired to variety, apparently.
2) Be prepared, with care
There is nothing worse than getting hungry and not having a snack to hand to tie you over until lunch, whether you are a full-time worker or student. Being prepared with a few of your favourite snacks will ensure you don’t choose convenience over satisfaction. I have been there; it only makes me crave more food. I have been at the point of hunger and just going for the highest-rated restaurant on just-eat, which by the way isn’t always accurate.
Be sure, when meal prepping or snack prepping, you are being flexible, ensure you are considering preferences (don’t compromise taste, chose something based on care not restriction) and lifestyle. I decided it was important to take meals to the study room as it was essential to get the nutrients needed to study, I made sure it was tasty and satisfying too. On the other hand, someone who is working corporately may decide to pre-plan so they are not rushing to the pastries in the cafeteria that won’t suffice the day.
3) Pay attention to how food makes you feel
Start to pay more attention to how food makes you feel. This is part of what it means to practice gentle nutrition, making choices that will make you feel good. Now you may have fallen into a habit of eating a certain food but not realise how it makes you feel, that was me just recently. The same way you know how sleeping a certain number of hours or doing a certain type of activity makes you feel, it is important to be informed. To guide your future food choices, ask these questions: How does this food make my body feel? Do I like this feeling? Does this food provide lasting energy? How do I feel after I eat this food? (14).
Case in point, my friend recently reintroduced me to a certain how drink (I won’t mention the specific brand) and I love it, though only at night if I have it in the morning, I actually feel a little sluggish, which is great for when I actually want to sleep. Learn to adapt to this information so that eventually you can have a portfolio of foods that you enjoy and will work for you at the same time
4) Be mindful of hunger and fullness cues
Attunement to hunger and fullness is key to meeting our fluctuating energy needs through the day and will honour your health by helping you avoid feeling physically ill from extreme hunger or horribly sluggish from overeating. While diets may teach portion control and macro counting, ignoring hunger that present as feeling weak and lightheaded or involves stomach rumbles, may consequently lead to anxiety-related overeating of highly palatable food following diet restriction (8).
Regarding satiety, I have been the one nibbling at the kernels of the popcorn box at the cinemas, perplexed at how fast it went and finishing my eat-out meal regardless of whether I still felt hungry, I mean it’s tasty right? This desire to eat despite no longer feeling hungry is called hedonic (pleasure-based) hunger (3).
So it easy to get into a habit of being distracted and bypass our fullness or get busy and ignore hunger. Try taking a pause in your eating to assess hunger and satisfaction (satiety) status, if still hunger resume, enjoying the meal at a slower pace until you begin to feel fulness. Becoming attuned takes practice. “Attuning to satiety won’t take just the one meal” (‘Intuitive Eating’, fourth edition) and will require you to first honour hunger.
5) Treat your emotions with care
I thought I would add this one, as it isn’t exactly what may first come to mine when thinking about food choice, but I have take a few trips down the “emotional-eating lane”, especially after exams and such.
Okay, so you may unaware if you have this habit. Understanding what particularly drives our eating may help. Physical hunger builds gradually, occurs below the neck (rumble in the tummy), and will lead to eating that gives a feeling of satisfaction. While emotional hunger occurs suddenly, above the neck (e.g taste cravings), and eating can result in feelings of shame (7).
A way to honour your emotional health, may not be through choosing food, but deciding not to choose it, it’s deciding not to eat, which is still a food choice I believe. We are emotional beings, and emotions don’t go away with food. Some things that may help satisfy your emotions include: going to your favourite spot and having a read; exercising (the kind you find fun); making your wash day (referring to hair) a whole spa day; listening to your new favourite songs, the list is endless, but you get the point. Do something that will satisfy you and make food distractions lose their touch to truly honour your emotional health.
Tidbits Are you ready for gentle nutrition?
When considering gentle nutrition it is all about flexibility and permission, it isn’t rigid. It also considers how food can help the functioning of the body (14).Ask yourself these following questions to see if your nutrition is from a place of self-care or not:Do I have a different emotional response to foods, such as feeling guilty for some? Do I eat regardless of taste as long as it’s healthy? Do I mostly eat foods that give me energy and stamina? (14).Let me know in the comments what your takeaway was and if you resonated with any of the gentle nutrition practices or will be starting soon.
Disclaimer: As I am not trained in intuitive eating, I would suggest that you reach out to a registered Nutritionist or Dietician who is trained in Intuitive eating if you would like to learn more about practicing gentle nutrition, in addition to reaching out to someone trained in eating behaviour, especially if you have any eating disorder as it is advised you first focus on food relationship.
References
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2. Hirotsu, C., Tufik, S. and Andersen, M. (2015) Interactions between sleep, stress, and metabolism: From physiological to pathological conditions. Sleep Science, 8(3), pp.143-152.
3. Horwath, C., Hagmann, D. and Hartmann, C. (2020) The Power of Food: Self-control moderates the association of hedonic hunger with overeating, snacking frequency and palatable food intake. Eating Behaviors, 38, p.101393.
4. Lustig R.H. (2007) The Efferent Arm of the Energy Balance Regulatory Pathway: Neuroendocrinology and Pathology. In: Donohoue P.A. (eds) Energy Metabolism and Obesity. Contemporary Endocrinology. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-139-4_5
5. Mitrou, P. (2007) Mediterranean Dietary Pattern and Prediction of All-Cause Mortality in a US Population. Archives of Internal Medicine, 167(22), p.2461.
6. Müller, M., Enderle, J. and Bosy-Westphal, A. (2016) Changes in Energy Expenditure with Weight Gain and Weight Loss in Humans. Current Obesity Reports, 5(4), pp.413-423.
7. NHS (2020) Mindful Eating. [online] Nhft.nhs.uk. Available at: <https://www.nhft.nhs.uk/download.cfm?doc=docm93jijm4n13965> [Accessed 1 January 2021].
8. Rogers, P. and Hill, A. (1989) Breakdown of dietary restraint following mere exposure to food stimuli: Interrelationships between restraint, hunger, salivation, and food intake. Addictive Behaviors, 14(4), pp.387-397.
9. Schiefelbein, V. and Susman, E. (2006) Cortisol Levels and Longitudinal Cortisol Change as Predictors of Anxiety in Adolescents. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 26(4), pp.397-413.
10. Shibata, K., Hirose, J. and Fukuwatari, T. (2014) Relationship between Urinary Concentrations of Nine Water-soluble Vitamins and their Vitamin Intakes in Japanese Adult Males. Nutrition and Metabolic Insights, 7, p.NMI.S17245.
11. Skoldstam, L. (2003) An experimental study of a Mediterranean diet intervention for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 62(3), pp.208-214.
12. Skoluda, N. et al. (2015) Intra-individual psychological and physiological responses to acute laboratory stressors of different intensity. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 51, pp.227-236.
13. Sofi, F. et al. (2008) Adherence to Mediterranean diet and health status: meta-analysis. BMJ, 337(sep11 2), pp.a1344-a1344.
14. Tylka, T. and Kroon Van Diest, A. (2013) The Intuitive Eating Scale–2: Item refinement and psychometric evaluation with college women and men. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(1), pp.137-153.
15. Zhang, Y. et al. (2015) Antioxidant Phytochemicals for the Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Diseases. Molecules, 20(12), pp.21138-21156.
