Case 3: Rethinking My Relationship withFood
Questions I Never Thought to Ask
Living in Italy, there have been many moments when everyday life or problems with my body have made me wonder, ‘Why don’t we learn this at school?’ or ‘Am I the only one who doesn’t know this?’ Or perhaps I just forgot some of what I learned in school.
By researching things for myself and trying them out, I have gradually begun to understand my own body and the way I live a little better. Understanding ourselves better also helps us care for others. In this series, I want to share what I have learnt along the way, from basic knowledge for everyday life to little things I have discovered while living in Italy.
I thought eating was part of studying, but…
I have loved food since I was little, which led me to study at the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Trying dishes I had never eaten before, comparing different varieties of the same ingredient, or discovering how different production methods affect flavour — here, eating is learning.
Once I started thinking that way, I found endless reasons to eat. ‘I've come all this way’, I should know this or ‘When will I get another chance to try it?’
Before I knew it, eating felt a little like an obligation. I sometimes ate more than I wanted to and struggled to manage my weight. After drinking alcohol, stopping eating became even harder. How many times have I woken up the next morning regretting it?
Why Is It Harder to Stop Eating After Drinking Alcohol?
As I looked into this, I realised that feeling hungry and finding it difficult to stop eating are two different things.
One factor is that alcohol affects the parts of the brain involved in controlling our behaviour. Even when we might normally be able to think, I've eaten enough’, and stop, alcohol makes it harder to act on that judgement.
In one experiment, 60 female university students were divided into two groups: one drank alcohol, while the other received a placebo drink designed to resemble alcohol. The researchers measured their ability to inhibit their responses after drinking, then gave them 15 minutes to taste-test cookies.
The group that consumed alcohol performed worse on the inhibition task and consumed more calories from the cookies. The analysis suggested that reduced inhibitory control may contribute to increased food intake.
Another factor is how alcohol changes our attention towards food and our desire to eat.
In one experiment, participants paid more attention to food after drinking alcohol, reported a greater desire to snack, and ate more. However, another experiment included in the same paper did not find these exact changes. Alcohol can alter how we respond to food, but the effect varies.
So recently, rather than relying entirely on my willpower after drinking, I have started planning ahead. Eating a proper meal instead of drinking on an empty stomach. Deciding how much I want to drink and choosing a smaller glass. Pacing myself with water between alcoholic drinks. If I go to a house party at a friend's place, I bring my own water bottle. I want to start by changing these small habits.
How Do People Who Love Food Choose to Eat?
I used to think that being a ‘foodie’ meant loving food and being able to eat a lot of it. Someone who knows all sorts of dishes, keeps up with well-known restaurants and is always trying something new.
But looking at the people around me, I began to notice that an interest in food can take other forms, too.
Some people care about where their food comes from. Others take time to think carefully about what they cook, what they eat and what they serve to others. Some choose what they genuinely enjoy and buy only what they need.
‘I don't want to eat any more, but I don't want to waste food’.
One friend told me that because she doesn’t want to waste food when she is already full, she tries to buy things only when she really wants them in the first place.
Another friend's words stayed with me, too: ‘We actually need less food than we think’.
I don’t have to finish an entire dish by myself to know what it tastes like. If there is something I want to try, I can share it with a friend from the beginning. If I don’t think I can finish something, I can ask, ‘Would you like some?’ That way, I can enjoy trying different foods without forcing myself to eat more than I want. And there’s the added pleasure of sharing our impressions.
Perhaps I had been deciding how much to eat based less on how hungry I actually felt and more on what I imagined: ‘I should be able to eat this much’, or ‘I might get hungry again later tonight’. Rather than buying more than I can finish and then worrying about the leftovers, I could reconsider how much I buy or serve myself in the first place.
I have started thinking about ‘pleasure’ in relation to my eating habits, as Carlo Petrini speaks of it. Enjoying good food and wine is one of life’s great pleasures for me.
So I thought about Petrini’s view of pleasure. But when I eat past the point of fullness and wake up regretting it, how much pleasure did I really get?
I want to value the choices I make. I want to learn how organic vegetables are grown, then use that knowledge to choose them. I want to listen to a producer’s ideas, then buy a wine I find delicious. I want to read ingredient lists. I want to care about what I eat.
Food made with care and effort comes at a price that reflects that work. But that does not mean I need to eat expensive food every day. Perhaps once a month, I can buy something from a producer I am curious about and take my time enjoying it. On other days, I can eat within a budget that works for me, while also looking after my health. And alongside thinking about what I choose, I want to pay more attention to using up what I buy and understanding how much I can comfortably eat.
My Grandmother's ‘Hara Hachibu’
My grandmother always used to say ‘hara hachibu’, a Japanese expression meaning to eat until you are about 80 per cent full. Because I love food, I always thought that if something was delicious, I wanted to eat plenty of it. But now, I feel as though I am beginning to understand what she meant. Finishing a meal while I can still think, “That was delicious.” Leaving myself looking forward to the next meal, too.
When I come across a dish I have never tried before, I still want to taste it. I want to keep enjoying meals with friends and time spent around a bottle of wine. What matters, I think, is finding a balance between that enjoyment and the amount I can comfortably eat. By paying a little more attention to how hungry I feel and what I am in the mood for, I want to keep learning through eating, just as I always have.
Follow our journey @movimento.metropolitano
