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Can Mom’s Home Cooking Overcome Your Cravings for Junk Food?

By on November 23, 2012

You live in a society where food is abundant.

Unfortunately, your genetics don’t know that.

They think you live in a world where food is scarce.

  • And as a result of your genetic ignorance, you are running around in a body that is programmed to crave sweet, fatty, salty, high-calorie food.
  • It’s also designed to emotionally reward you for eating sweet, fatty, salty, high-calorie food.

And because of those cravings & rewards, more & more of us are getting fatter & sicker as we choose to eat pizza instead of vegetables.

Will power doesn’t stand a chance.

However, a new study suggests that there my be a way to override this genetic imperative.

The secret….home cooked meals with friends & family.

hansens dinner goliath davy Can Moms Home Cooking Overcome Your Cravings for Junk Food?

Davey…aren’t you gonna eat your vegetables???

The Science

Observing a group of 160 non-obese women, researchers found that “at-home meals (AHM) were followed by more intense positive emotions and less worry than were away from home (AFH) meals. As expected, home meals that were healthier than a person’s baseline meals were followed by more intense positive emotions, with a relation of opposite direction being observed in AFH settings. At home, more intense pre-meal positive emotions cued healthier next-meal eating patterns than did those at baseline, with no such relation being observed in AFH settings”.

They concluded that “the home is a privileged environment that nurtures healthy eating and in which healthier food choices trigger and are triggered by more positive emotions.”

New studies are being designed to look at specific healthy eating strategies involving  ”interpersonal communications, home design and atmospheric cues” including “music, dining landscape, and kitchen equipment, which have all been found to induce positive emotions in both everyday and laboratory contexts.”

Conclusion

It won’t kill you to sit down and have dinner with family and friends.

And you may even drop a few pounds.

Reference

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Doug Robb is a personal trainer, a fitness blogger and author, a competitive athlete, and a student of nutrition and exercise science. Since 2008, Doug has expanded his impact by bringing his real-world experience online via his health & fitness blog, Health Habits. Read more posts by Doug at Hive Health Media.
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2 Comments

  1. Joshua

    August 25, 2011 at 12:57 am

    Mom’s cooking is not always healthier, but i guess msot of the times it’s easy too beat fast food junk.
    When you eat at home, an emotional connection can be made, and that’s an important step to a good and complete digestion. Eating a hamburger in a fast-food can’t produce the same result.

    Reply

  2. Mark

    August 23, 2011 at 1:04 am

    I don’t really enjoy eating fast food meals because most are unhealthy foods. In other cases like eating out in a restaurants, I find it too expensive for me to have that kind of lifestyle. So I choose to prepare my meals by myself or of course my mom. Anyway, I can choose whatever food I want for that day especially if I’m craving for my favorite foods.

    Reply

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