Geisinger Preventive Medicine Lecture Series: “The Psychology of Healthy Eating and the Pleasure Trap”
Lecture Type: Online Video (Link Here)
Time: 52 minutes 30 seconds
Date: April 26, 2017
Speaker: Dr. Doug Lisle, PhD (Clinical Psychology)
Topic: Healthy Eating and the Pleasure Trap
Introduction
Dr. Doug Lisle is a clinical psychologist. In this lecture on healthy eating and the pleasure trap, he explains the relationship between evolutionary neurocircuitry and why it is difficult for humans to make healthy dietary choices.
Dr. Lisle explains that humans evolved to seek out food with higher calories to improve our survival. Humans have innate signaling that detects the fat and sugars in foods, making them higher calorie. This then creates a pleasurable sensation through the release of dopamine in the brain.
In today’s world, we have highly processed foods that our ancestors were not exposed to – i.e., ice cream, french fries, and pizza. This excessively stimulates our pleasure pathway in the brain, making our taste buds less sensitive to fresh whole foods that are much lower in calories. This means eating these high calorie foods feels “right” based on our evolutionary biology; however, it is the exact opposite. These foods are linked to diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic conditions. Instinct works against our health today!
Resetting the Pleasure Center
Although this pleasure trap sounds daunting, Dr. Lisle suggests there are actions we can take to regain pleasure eating whole foods. Taste bud sensitivity is not changed permanently. Over time, humans can trigger a dopamine response from lesser calorie foods. It is my interpretation that the more we eat fresh whole food and try to avoid those higher calorie processed foods, the more sensitivity we gain.
Potential for Fasting
In addition to the above, Dr. Lisle also spoke briefly about the potential benefits of water-fasting to reset taste buds, as well as other potential health benefits. I am not recommending water-fasts here! If you are interested in Dr. Lisle’s previous clinical research in this field you can read “Medically supervised water-only fasting in the treatment of hypertension” by Dr. Lisle and colleagues, published in 2001 in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. Link below.
View the video for yourself to learn more! I recommend increasing the playback speed to 2x.
Citations
Goldhamer, A., Lisle, D., Parpia, B., Anderson, S., & Campbell, C. (2001). Medically supervised water-only fasting in the treatment of hypertension. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 24 (5), 335 – 339. https://doi.org/10.1067/mmt.2001.115263 Accessed from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0161475401855755#!
Lisle, D. (2017, April 26). The Psychology of Healthy Eating and the Pleasure Trap. [Lecture Recording]. Geisinger Commonwealth Preventive Medicine Lecture Series in partnership with WVIA. https://on-demand.wvia.org/video/wvia-special-presentations-dr-t-colin-campbell-why-nutrition-ignored-medicine/
Disclaimer
This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice or treatment from a personal physician. All viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. The publisher of this content does not take responsibility for possible health consequences of any person or persons reading or following the information in this educational content. All viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement, exercise or other lifestyle program.