Why Do We Overeat? A Neurobiological Perspective

waldo56

We overeat naturally because it is our instinct to do so and the healthiest way to eat. Everything about your body works better in a consistent calorie surplus.

However, in order to prevent obesity, the consequence of long term consistent overeating, periodic starvation has to be implimented since nature no longer does that for us.

"Overeating" is not wrong eating, it is correct eating. The very word makes it sound like something shameful or a disorder. This is wrong. If you don't naturally overeat when no dietary control mechanisms are in place, then you are the one with the disorder.

IMHO there needs to be a focus away from correcting this supposed imbalance in humans to instead celebrating it, and using it as a force for good. Eating a consistent calorie surplus is not only OK, it is great for you. However when you embrace this you must periodically restrict intake to control the fat gain (the stronger and shorter the restriction the better), and be sure to exercise, including resistance exercise, so that those extra calories are used in the healthiest way.

If you've never spent time in a consistent calorie surplus while not overweight, you have no idea of what it feels like to be normal.

It ok to "overeat", everyone should be doing it most of the time.

greengoddess0123

This conversation made me think of reading "Farmer Boy" to my 6 year old son.

According to the book (which is a fictionalized account of his life), Almanzo Wilder apparently consumed maple syrup, pancakes, doughnuts, cookies, and pie for breakfast every morning.

Which is considerably more sugar than I consume in an entire day.

Sorry I have nothing scientific to contribute to this conversation. It just reminded me of feeling sick every time we read the descriptions of what this 19th century family ate at every meal.

Mangopickle

do they cite a source for the calorie in trend matching the obesity trend ? In the UK we keep seeing reports citing a reduction in calorie intake that doesn't match the obesity trend.

I agree, because my thin parents and grandparents ate far more calories daily than we do now. They all walked well over 10000 steps in a day. There were no time saving conveniences and no tv. The studies I have seen have shown that normal weight people eat far less calories now than 120 yrs ago. Of course, why would I need to. My lucky *kitten* is not farming rice in Arkansas or mining coal in Appalachia, or drying, canning and preserving 14 hours a day because there was no refrigeration. I mean, gee, to take a poo you had to leave the house to go to the out house in many places in the 1900's

tedrickp

Well yeah a decrease in activity obv contributes as well - but can you link a study that shows people "eat far less calories than 120 years ago"?

I would be interested in checking that out.

WendyTerry420

do they cite a source for the calorie in trend matching the obesity trend ? In the UK we keep seeing reports citing a reduction in calorie intake that doesn't match the obesity trend.

I agree, because my thin parents and grandparents ate far more calories daily than we do now. They all walked well over 10000 steps in a day. There were no time saving conveniences and no tv. The studies I have seen have shown that normal weight people eat far less calories now than 120 yrs ago. Of course, why would I need to. My lucky *kitten* is not farming rice in Arkansas or mining coal in Appalachia, or drying, canning and preserving 14 hours a day because there was no refrigeration. I mean, gee, to take a poo you had to leave the house to go to the out house in many places in the 1900's

Did you run across their food diary up in the attic?

tedrickp

We overeat naturally because it is our instinct to do so and the healthiest way to eat. Everything about your body works better in a consistent calorie surplus.

However, in order to prevent obesity, the consequence of long term consistent overeating, periodic starvation has to be implimented since nature no longer does that for us

"Overeating" is not wrong eating, it is correct eating. The very word makes it sound like something shameful or a disorder. This is wrong. If you don't naturally overeat when no dietary control mechanisms are in place, then you are the one with the disorder.

IMHO there needs to be a focus away from correcting this supposed imbalance in humans to instead celebrating it, and using it as a force for good. Eating a consistent calorie surplus is not only OK, it is great for you. However when you embrace this you must periodically restrict intake to control the fat gain (the stronger and shorter the restriction the better), and be sure to exercise, including resistance exercise, so that those extra calories are used in the healthiest way.

If you've never spent time in a consistent calorie surplus while not overweight, you have no idea of what it feels like to be normal.

It ok to "overeat", everyone should be doing it most of the time.

Any time someone tells me something is the "healthiest" way to eat, I need a little more back up than their word. That's probably my own bias though - I rarely find anything in the fitness/nutrition world to be completely black and white.

I'd also argue that "consistent calorie surplus" and "periodic starvation" can't co-exist.

Whether you limit your caloric intake daily, or by overeating somedays, while under eating on others there is still some sort of caloric management. You have just described a different way for people to manage their cals. (In fact the exact way I managed to lose most of my weight early on).

Regardless - even if you are right (not saying you arent - would love to see sources for why you feel this way - I love to learn about this ****) the video is touching on why we overeat to the point of obesity (neurologically speaking).

To relate to your stance - the video touches on why we overeat and don't use the "periodic starvation" you suggested.

tedrickp

Screenshot from video that shows some of the many reasons people potentially overeat - keep in mind this screenshot is highly simplified. Just want to illustrate the complexity of this issue...

neandermagnon

people eat more because food is very freely and easily available nowadays. I mean people don't have to till fields or go hunting any more.... heck we don't even have to walk to the shops any more....

people do less activity because we have too many things that enable us to sit on our butts all day... cars, home delivery of food, many more people working desk jobs and less need for manual labour any more....

likitisplit

Any connection between the fact that people eat more calories because more of the calories they are eating are sugar or grains (i.e. have less nutrients in them -- or "empty calories")?

At least one of the theories I've seen is that if you're eating low-nutrient food like sugars and grains, your body craves more of it in order to meet its nutrient requirements. So, you end up eating more calories than necessary. I don't know if that's true or not, but definitely seems like a plausible theory on why people are driven to eat more calories than they really need.

According to USDA data, the intake of sugar and grains has been relatively unchanged over the last 25 years. In fact, since 1989, 75% of the increase in total calorie consumption has come from added fats and oils. In fact, sugar and grain consumption actually peaked in 2000, and has been declining ever since.

Sure, 25 years, that wouldn't surprise me -- since 1990. Yeah, that's no surprise. The typical American diet didn't do any radical shifts in the 80s and 90s.

How about 75-100 years? I bet it's considerably different there.

The obesity epidemic largely started in the late 90's.

likitisplit

people eat more because food is very freely and easily available nowadays. I mean people don't have to till fields or go hunting any more.... heck we don't even have to walk to the shops any more....

people do less activity because we have too many things that enable us to sit on our butts all day... cars, home delivery of food, many more people working desk jobs and less need for manual labour any more....

Thank you for pointing out activity as a factor. We seem to assume we can control off of this with diet and it's pretty evident that activity plays a major role in even such simple things like regulation of hunger cues.

WendyTerry420

This conversation made me think of reading "Farmer Boy" to my 6 year old son.

According to the book (which is a fictionalized account of his life), Almanzo Wilder apparently consumed maple syrup, pancakes, doughnuts, cookies, and pie for breakfast every morning.

Which is considerably more sugar than I consume in an entire day.

Sorry I have nothing scientific to contribute to this conversation. It just reminded me of feeling sick every time we read the descriptions of what this 19th century family ate at every meal.

I read that too. Love the series! It should be noted that where Almanzo grew up, maple trees were to be found in plenty for miles around. In one of the early books about Laura, it was also noted that having a cake was a rare thing limited to birthdays and special occasions. In the prairies, there are few, if any, maple trees.

likitisplit

This conversation made me think of reading "Farmer Boy" to my 6 year old son.

According to the book (which is a fictionalized account of his life), Almanzo Wilder apparently consumed maple syrup, pancakes, doughnuts, cookies, and pie for breakfast every morning.

Which is considerably more sugar than I consume in an entire day.

Sorry I have nothing scientific to contribute to this conversation. It just reminded me of feeling sick every time we read the descriptions of what this 19th century family ate at every meal.

I read that too. Love the series! It should be noted that where Almanzo grew up, maple trees were to be found in plenty for miles around. In one of the early books about Laura, it was also noted that having a cake was a rare thing limited to birthdays and special occasions. In the prairies, there are few, if any, maple trees.

Laura's family also starved at least twice in the book. Manny never did, however.

waldo56

We overeat naturally because it is our instinct to do so and the healthiest way to eat. Everything about your body works better in a consistent calorie surplus.

However, in order to prevent obesity, the consequence of long term consistent overeating, periodic starvation has to be implimented since nature no longer does that for us

"Overeating" is not wrong eating, it is correct eating. The very word makes it sound like something shameful or a disorder. This is wrong. If you don't naturally overeat when no dietary control mechanisms are in place, then you are the one with the disorder.

IMHO there needs to be a focus away from correcting this supposed imbalance in humans to instead celebrating it, and using it as a force for good. Eating a consistent calorie surplus is not only OK, it is great for you. However when you embrace this you must periodically restrict intake to control the fat gain (the stronger and shorter the restriction the better), and be sure to exercise, including resistance exercise, so that those extra calories are used in the healthiest way.

If you've never spent time in a consistent calorie surplus while not overweight, you have no idea of what it feels like to be normal.

It ok to "overeat", everyone should be doing it most of the time.

Any time someone tells me something is the "healthiest" way to eat, I need a little more back up than their word. That's probably my own bias though - I rarely find anything in the fitness/nutrition world to be completely black and white.

I'd also argue that "consistent calorie surplus" and "periodic starvation" can't co-exist.

Whether you limit your caloric intake daily, or by overeating somedays, while under eating on others there is still some sort of caloric management. You have just described a different way for people to manage their cals. (In fact the exact way I managed to lose most of my weight early on).

Regardless - even if you are right (not saying you arent - would love to see sources for why you feel this way - I love to learn about this ****) the video is touching on why we overeat to the point of obesity (neurologically speaking).

To relate to your stance - the video touches on why we overeat and don't use the "periodic starvation" you suggested.

Being in a consistent calorie surplus is obviously healthier. Your body will shunt calories to growth and repair of muscles/skin/etc... that simply wouldn't be done unless a calorie surplus was present. Your body will build up stores of beige fat (a big time metabolic regulator), all of your hormone systems work far better (especially the sex hormones and stress hormones; not eating a surplus is a source of stress, stress hormones are destructive to sex hormones). You have energy and a pep in your step that is lacking at all other times.

How can a consistent calorie surplus and periodic starvation not co-exist? Up until very recent times, periodic starvation was forced on us by nature. The biological response to this is to prepare for its inevitability; if food is not scarce the body desires to be in a surplus at all times. Maintaining or worse, long term dieting, is a fight against our basic animal instincts.

Why we "overeat" is a very simple question to answer. It is our basic animal instinct to do so.

The solution to this is also very simple when framed the right way. Our instincts are not the problem. They are just fine and healthy. What we need is the periodic starvation that nature used to force on us.

A lot of people that successfully "maintain" their weight actually do nothing of the sort. They just have the good sense to cut back/diet occasionally to get rid of excess fat gain long before it ever becomes an issue. If you are looking to learn how to long term maintain, this is where to look (and yes, I am speaking from experience, having maintained my 75 lb loss now just about 2 years). You only have to diet once, that is a fat man's fallacy, occasional short term dieting is just a normal part of life, its only a big deal if you have a lot to lose.

One of the biggest causes of people getting fat IMHO is that dieting is such a big deal and made out to be a major undertaking; major projects are easy to delay/procrastinate on. If OTOH its not big deal and just a normal part of life thats a little uncomfortable but easy to do, procrastinating isn't nearly as big of an issue.

Brige2269

It's basically prepackaged foods, and larger portions. People want to think they are getting their monies worth. If you go to one of those big chain restaurants and really look around, you will see that most of the meals come out on two plates!

Bump to watch later.

likitisplit

We overeat naturally because it is our instinct to do so and the healthiest way to eat. Everything about your body works better in a consistent calorie surplus.

However, in order to prevent obesity, the consequence of long term consistent overeating, periodic starvation has to be implimented since nature no longer does that for us

"Overeating" is not wrong eating, it is correct eating. The very word makes it sound like something shameful or a disorder. This is wrong. If you don't naturally overeat when no dietary control mechanisms are in place, then you are the one with the disorder.

IMHO there needs to be a focus away from correcting this supposed imbalance in humans to instead celebrating it, and using it as a force for good. Eating a consistent calorie surplus is not only OK, it is great for you. However when you embrace this you must periodically restrict intake to control the fat gain (the stronger and shorter the restriction the better), and be sure to exercise, including resistance exercise, so that those extra calories are used in the healthiest way.

If you've never spent time in a consistent calorie surplus while not overweight, you have no idea of what it feels like to be normal.

It ok to "overeat", everyone should be doing it most of the time.

Any time someone tells me something is the "healthiest" way to eat, I need a little more back up than their word. That's probably my own bias though - I rarely find anything in the fitness/nutrition world to be completely black and white.

I'd also argue that "consistent calorie surplus" and "periodic starvation" can't co-exist.

Whether you limit your caloric intake daily, or by overeating somedays, while under eating on others there is still some sort of caloric management. You have just described a different way for people to manage their cals. (In fact the exact way I managed to lose most of my weight early on).

Regardless - even if you are right (not saying you arent - would love to see sources for why you feel this way - I love to learn about this ****) the video is touching on why we overeat to the point of obesity (neurologically speaking).

To relate to your stance - the video touches on why we overeat and don't use the "periodic starvation" you suggested.

Being in a consistent calorie surplus is obviously healthier. Your body will shunt calories to growth and repair of muscles/skin/etc... that simply wouldn't be done unless a calorie surplus was present. Your body will build up stores of beige fat (a big time metabolic regulator), all of your hormone systems work far better (especially the sex hormones and stress hormones; not eating a surplus is a source of stress, stress hormones are destructive to sex hormones). You have energy and a pep in your step that is lacking at all other times.

How can a consistent calorie surplus and periodic starvation not co-exist? Up until very recent times, periodic starvation was forced on us by nature. The biological response to this is to prepare for its inevitability; if food is not scarce the body desires to be in a surplus at all times. Maintaining or worse, long term dieting, is a fight against our basic animal instincts.

Why we "overeat" is a very simple question to answer. It is our basic animal instinct to do so.

The solution to this is also very simple when framed the right way. Our instincts are not the problem. They are just fine and healthy. What we need is the periodic starvation that nature used to force on us.

A lot of people that successfully "maintain" their weight actually do nothing of the sort. They just have the good sense to cut back/diet occasionally to get rid of excess fat gain long before it ever becomes an issue. If you are looking to learn how to long term maintain, this is where to look (and yes, I am speaking from experience, having maintained my 75 lb loss now just about 2 years). You only have to diet once, that is a fat man's fallacy, occasional short term dieting is just a normal part of life, its only a big deal if you have a lot to lose.

One of the biggest causes of people getting fat IMHO is that dieting is such a big deal and made out to be a major undertaking; major projects are easy to delay/procrastinate on. If OTOH its not big deal and just a normal part of life thats a little uncomfortable but easy to do, procrastinating isn't nearly as big of an issue.

So you are arguing that bulking/cutting is healthier than maintaining?

tedrickp

How can a consistent calorie surplus and periodic starvation not co-exist? Up until very recent times, periodic starvation was forced on us by nature. The biological response to this is to prepare for its inevitability; if food is not scarce the body desires to be in a surplus at all times. Maintaining or worse, long term dieting, is a fight against our basic animal instincts.

Because a consistent caloric surplus = weight gain period. If you are maintaining your weight for 2 years - then you are not in a consistent caloric surplus. You might eat a surplus for a day, a week, months even... - but as soon as you introduce the " periodic starvation" that allows you to maintain your weight for 2 years....then you are no longer in a consistent surplus IMO

I don't look at calories in a daily or weekly way though, so it could just be an issue of us disagreeing on what consistent means.

Why we "overeat" is a very simple question to answer. It is our basic animal instinct to do so.

Yeah that answer might be good enough for you - but for me personally I find "its our instinct" or "it's human nature" to be sort of intellectually lazy. I'd rather learn about the why, and like in the video the neurological aspects that drive (or oppose) that "animal instinct". We are lucky enough that our consciousness can remove or reduce the impact of instinct on immediate action.

One of the biggest causes of people getting fat IMHO is that dieting is such a big deal and made out to be a major undertaking; major projects are easy to delay/procrastinate on. If OTOH its not big deal and just a normal part of life thats a little uncomfortable but easy to do, procrastinating isn't nearly as big of an issue.

Agree with this though.

neandermagnon

people eat more because food is very freely and easily available nowadays. I mean people don't have to till fields or go hunting any more.... heck we don't even have to walk to the shops any more....

people do less activity because we have too many things that enable us to sit on our butts all day... cars, home delivery of food, many more people working desk jobs and less need for manual labour any more....

Thank you for pointing out activity as a factor. We seem to assume we can control off of this with diet and it's pretty evident that activity plays a major role in even such simple things like regulation of hunger cues.

it's sad that this factor is so commonly overlooked, because it is a major factor. Even in other species of ape, if the zoo enclosure is too boring and food is just dished out to apes they overeat and become obese. Zookeepers have to ensure they have plenty of stuff to climb on and hide their food to make them have to go and look for it, like foraging in the wild.

while i don't agree with hiding people's food (though the idea of having someone hide your food to help you lose weight is amusing lol), people should try to be active. And it's not just about obesity, there are loads of health issues with being sedentary, and thin sedentary people are also at risk of many of them. Sedentary =/= healthy.

I'm not saying people shouldn't also be careful what they eat with regards to portion sizes, some people will still struggle to lose weight even with activity if they're not doing that. But being active and eating more to fuel that activity is way healthier than being sedentary and keeping your calories low enough to lose weight (or not gain weight).

waldo56

We overeat naturally because it is our instinct to do so and the healthiest way to eat. Everything about your body works better in a consistent calorie surplus.

However, in order to prevent obesity, the consequence of long term consistent overeating, periodic starvation has to be implimented since nature no longer does that for us

"Overeating" is not wrong eating, it is correct eating. The very word makes it sound like something shameful or a disorder. This is wrong. If you don't naturally overeat when no dietary control mechanisms are in place, then you are the one with the disorder.

IMHO there needs to be a focus away from correcting this supposed imbalance in humans to instead celebrating it, and using it as a force for good. Eating a consistent calorie surplus is not only OK, it is great for you. However when you embrace this you must periodically restrict intake to control the fat gain (the stronger and shorter the restriction the better), and be sure to exercise, including resistance exercise, so that those extra calories are used in the healthiest way.

If you've never spent time in a consistent calorie surplus while not overweight, you have no idea of what it feels like to be normal.

It ok to "overeat", everyone should be doing it most of the time.

Any time someone tells me something is the "healthiest" way to eat, I need a little more back up than their word. That's probably my own bias though - I rarely find anything in the fitness/nutrition world to be completely black and white.

I'd also argue that "consistent calorie surplus" and "periodic starvation" can't co-exist.

Whether you limit your caloric intake daily, or by overeating somedays, while under eating on others there is still some sort of caloric management. You have just described a different way for people to manage their cals. (In fact the exact way I managed to lose most of my weight early on).

Regardless - even if you are right (not saying you arent - would love to see sources for why you feel this way - I love to learn about this ****) the video is touching on why we overeat to the point of obesity (neurologically speaking).

To relate to your stance - the video touches on why we overeat and don't use the "periodic starvation" you suggested.

Being in a consistent calorie surplus is obviously healthier. Your body will shunt calories to growth and repair of muscles/skin/etc... that simply wouldn't be done unless a calorie surplus was present. Your body will build up stores of beige fat (a big time metabolic regulator), all of your hormone systems work far better (especially the sex hormones and stress hormones; not eating a surplus is a source of stress, stress hormones are destructive to sex hormones). You have energy and a pep in your step that is lacking at all other times.

How can a consistent calorie surplus and periodic starvation not co-exist? Up until very recent times, periodic starvation was forced on us by nature. The biological response to this is to prepare for its inevitability; if food is not scarce the body desires to be in a surplus at all times. Maintaining or worse, long term dieting, is a fight against our basic animal instincts.

Why we "overeat" is a very simple question to answer. It is our basic animal instinct to do so.

The solution to this is also very simple when framed the right way. Our instincts are not the problem. They are just fine and healthy. What we need is the periodic starvation that nature used to force on us.

A lot of people that successfully "maintain" their weight actually do nothing of the sort. They just have the good sense to cut back/diet occasionally to get rid of excess fat gain long before it ever becomes an issue. If you are looking to learn how to long term maintain, this is where to look (and yes, I am speaking from experience, having maintained my 75 lb loss now just about 2 years). You only have to diet once, that is a fat man's fallacy, occasional short term dieting is just a normal part of life, its only a big deal if you have a lot to lose.

One of the biggest causes of people getting fat IMHO is that dieting is such a big deal and made out to be a major undertaking; major projects are easy to delay/procrastinate on. If OTOH its not big deal and just a normal part of life thats a little uncomfortable but easy to do, procrastinating isn't nearly as big of an issue.

So you are arguing that bulking/cutting is healthier than maintaining?

Yes.

Take 3 different people: Each eats exactly the same number of calories in a year.

Person A spends 300 days that year in a calorie deficit trying to lose weight. The other 65 days they blow it, screw up their diet and binge, or manage to contain the damage enough that they only eat maintenance for the day.

Person B spends 365 days that year at maintenance, with virtually no day to day fluctuations.

Person C spends 300 days that year in a calorie surplus trying to build muscle. They other 65 days they spend cutting to shed the excess fat gain, or at maintenence transitioning.

Given that calories for all 3 are exactly the same...
Which person has the healthiest diet?
Which person will end the year with the best body composition? How about the worst?
Which person will have the highest metabolism? Whose will be the lowest?
Which person will have the highest quality of life (as directly impacted by diet)?
Which person will worry most about their diet? How about the least?

tedrickp

Person A spends 300 days that year in a calorie deficit trying to lose weight. The other 65 days they blow it, screw up their diet and binge, or manage to contain the damage enough that they only eat maintenance for the day.

Person B spends 365 days that year at maintenance, with virtually no day to day fluctuations.

Person C spends 300 days that year in a calorie surplus trying to build muscle. They other 65 days they spend cutting to shed the excess fat gain, or at maintenence transitioning.

Given that calories for all 3 are exactly the same...
Which person has the healthiest diet?
Which person will end the year with the best body composition? How about the worst?
Which person will have the highest metabolism? Whose will be the lowest?
Which person will have the highest quality of life (as directly impacted by diet)?
Which person will worry most about their diet? How about the least?

I don't think you can give definitive answers with just the information you gave...

Can you answer each and provide a source? Not being a d.ick - I find this very interesting and am wondering myself.

My hunch is the macro and micro ratio of those calories would be more important, than how they scheduled eating them.

Id argue the last two questions would be highly based on personal preference.

WendyTerry420

This conversation made me think of reading "Farmer Boy" to my 6 year old son.

According to the book (which is a fictionalized account of his life), Almanzo Wilder apparently consumed maple syrup, pancakes, doughnuts, cookies, and pie for breakfast every morning.

Which is considerably more sugar than I consume in an entire day.

Sorry I have nothing scientific to contribute to this conversation. It just reminded me of feeling sick every time we read the descriptions of what this 19th century family ate at every meal.

I read that too. Love the series! It should be noted that where Almanzo grew up, maple trees were to be found in plenty for miles around. In one of the early books about Laura, it was also noted that having a cake was a rare thing limited to birthdays and special occasions. In the prairies, there are few, if any, maple trees.

Laura's family also starved at least twice in the book. Manny never did, however.

True. They struggled a lot until they got to that town...I think it was in MN??...When Laura was a little older. That was the town on which they based the TV series. They were finally fairly well off at that point, after years of struggling and looking for the right place to settle.