The Psychology of Food, and Why Your Soul Needs Feeding Too…

10 months ago

Have you stopped and thought about how you view food and eating? Or how do you feel when you eat food? While food provides us with the fuel, we need to perform our day-to-day tasks, our food choices also impact our emotions and mood. If we have a good relationship with food, it should make us feel good, and bring joy, and connection.

However, the media, and the people we surround ourselves with, can impact our beliefs about food over time. Hearing about the latest diet trend on the TV, or reading a magazine about how a celebrity lost 30kg in 2 weeks from following the water diet, all contribute to our relationship with food over the years. We may start to think over time that we must restrict certain foods to achieve a certain result, or we should feel guilty if we eat “bad” foods. This may result in developing a poor relationship with food.

Having a poor relationship with food may look like this:

Developing disordered eating patterns
Developing food rules or restricting certain foods
Fixating on food and eating 24/7
Criticising your body negatively
Feeling guilty or fear around certain foods

How do we improve our relationship with food?

Improving your relationship with food can be hard! If you think about it, you have gone years and years having certain beliefs about food and eating, and just like breaking habits, changing these beliefs can take time. Research says, following intuitive eating practices can improve body image, self-esteem, and well-being.

Intuitive eating looks like this:

Not having food rules - eating nourishing foods along with soul foods!
Honouring your hunger cues - eating when you are hungry and not thinking about food 24/7!
Eating guilt free - you don’t feel like you need to “earn” food. You eat that piece of cake with zero guilt!
Moving your body in a way that feels good!
Believing food has no moral value - your food choices do not make you a “good” or “bad” person

What are “Soul Foods”?

You might start hearing us talking about “Soul Foods” here at Nourish’d! Soul Food’s are something that you enjoy daily or weekly that just makes you feel good, it feels good for the soul! It brings you joy, happiness, connection, comfort, and memories to your day or week. Think of going out with your friends to enjoy a piece of your favourite cake, or enjoying a warm piece of pudding on a cold winter's night. It makes you feel good! We believe soul foods should be a part of a balanced diet for everyone. When your soul is nourished, you’re nourished. Discover our Soul Foods range today! Want to find out more? Click here to explore our Soul Foods Range!