Healthy eating isn’t about labelling foods as “good” or “bad”; instead, it’s about balancing foods that support your body’s needs with honouring your appetite and food preferences to include foods you truly enjoy. The only foods I recommend avoiding are those that have spoiled, any food you might be allergic to, or food that is not meant for humans, i.e. pet food! Apart from that, all foods fit into a nutritious, well-balanced diet.
As a dietitian, I view food as a universal language that connects us all. Think about it – food plays a major role in celebrations, whether it’s Christmas dinner, birthday cake or a barbecue. It’s also there during more difficult times, for example, bringing a meals to someone who is grieving or unwell.
How Food Helps us Connect
Some of the ways food helps us connect include –
- Sharing meals- whether with family, friends, or colleagues, sitting down to a meal encourages conversation and strengthens relationships. This is particularly important for children, who are still learning to eat different foods, eating with adults who model healthy eating helps them learn.
- Food connects us to our culture and is a celebration of our diversity.
- Cooking and preparing food can bring a sense of achievement, especially when shared with others. Whether it’s a family dinner, a recipe passed on to a friend, or a meal for a neighbour going through tough times, food nourishes us emotionally as well as physically.
- Food helps us build our stories- we create memories through the meals we share, as eating involves all 5 of our senses.
Nourishment Beats Restriction
Listening to your body and your appetite, along with eating a wide variety of foods from all groups is key to nourishing your body in a balanced way. Putting foods in the “forbidden” category is restrictive, and can lead to stress, cravings, and guilt when you do eat the “forbidden” food. Trying to stick to only eating foods you might classify as “healthy” or trying to stick to a certain number of calories is also a fast track to becoming more disconnected from your body’s natural signals; which in turn makes it harder to notice when you feel hungry or full until those feelings are dialled up to 100.
Tips to Help your Relationship with Food
- When choosing what to eat, try to think more about how the food will make you FEEL, both physically and emotionally – will it make you feel energised or sluggish? Will you feel satisfied or does the idea of a certain food leave you feeling less than excited?
- Eat mindfully – tune into your body’s hunger cues – hunger doesn’t always feel like a grumbling stomach, sometimes it shows up as starting to feel unfocused or tired. Take a moment and check in with yourself. When eating, look out for fullness & satisfaction signals; you don’t need to feel “full” at the end of every meal, if your belly feels like it’s overloaded it’s often a sign you might eaten too much for comfort. The goal of feeling satisfied is that you’ve had enough to eat that you don’t feel hungry anymore, but you also feel like you’ve enjoyed the food and don’t feel the need to “go hunting” for something else. Note: many people eat everything on their plate as a result of being made to as children, parents, please don’t make your kids clean their plates if they’re full!
- Variety is the spice of life! I always encourage my clients to eat from ALL the food groups, and to eat lots of different things from each group. Doing this helps prevent boredom with food while providing loads of nutrients for your body and mind.
- Combine foods that provide nutrients for your body, such as lots of colourful fruit & veg and lean protein-rich foods, with foods that may be mostly for enjoyment. For example: adding cheese to your meal, or having yoghurt and fruit plus a piece of chocolate as a snack.
- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! We often confuse dehydration with tiredness or hunger! Your body will absolutely love you, and be more able to work well if you provide it with plenty of water. Add sugar free flavourings, drink carbonated water or herbal teas if you find water boring.
The Final Word
I encourage you to think of food as a tool to support your body—not as something to control or fear. Whether you’re managing IBS or simply looking to feel more balanced, learning to trust your body is a game changer.
Nutrition should be about more than just calories; it’s about kindness, self-care, and finding joy in what you eat.
Want to learn more? Click this link to download a handy resource to help you learn more about mindful eating and your hunger & fullness cues.
Yours in nourishment, Erin
Erin Brealey is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Sports Dietitian who specialises in gut health and gut disorders, as well as helping people improve their relationships with food and their bodies. As an experienced and empathetic health professional, Erin sees her role as being a resource to provide information and insight to end the confusion that surrounds nutrition and help you learn the skills to make sustainable change. For more information about Erin, click here.
Erin practices in our rooms at Sandgate Physical Health Clinic, and also offers online appointments.