Choice of meal may be in the genes

Why do you eat what you eat? Your perception of bitterness, as determined by your genes, could dictate your choice of food.

Australia’s Health Star Rating system has been up for review, and up for debate.

Why do you eat what you eat? Is your diet the result of a meticulous selection process, through background reading, intensive research and a thorough review of product labels? Or do you simply eat what you want, when you want, returning to the same food again and again, influenced more by hunger, emotion and budget than nutritional values?

Whether you are a mindful eater or a creature of habit seeking creature comforts, it is worth paying attention to your dietary choices before you take a bite.

With rising obesity rates and chronic illness, your future health may depend on what you are thinking as you walk down supermarket aisles or venture off for a bite to eat.

Get to know your choices and maybe know yourself a bit better too.

A study led by the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute last year found perception of bitterness, as determined by your genes, could dictate if you prefer coffee or tea, or drink a little or a lot. That finding could lead to further research into possible medical interventions for overeating or addiction.

A bitter pill, perhaps?

Sensationalised “superfoods” find a willing, almost evangelical market, but a Queensland University of Technology expert says the five core food groups are often just as good.

Helen Vidgen and her students investigated the promised benefits of things like breastfeeding biscuits, kombucha, toddler milk and protein balls and found their actual benefits could be delivered by cheaper alternatives.

“These promises are often based on weak studies, experiments on a rat, or flimsy evidence of a vitamin’s ability to affect your emotions or behaviour,” Vidgen says.

“Many of these products promise to benefit health but when you go back to the research they say supports them, it’s pretty weak and unfounded or the findings have been extrapolated in a way that’s not very relevant.

“New ‘super foods’ come and go and often confuse the public on what healthy eating is.

“To prepare our nutrition students to answer their clients’ questions about new and future ‘super foods’ we teach them to critique the research behind the promises: to think about how much they would need to eat to get the touted benefit; how it would fit into their lives, and come up with a recommendation.”

Food for thought.

More conventional, mass-produced products often come with a Health Star Rating, a voluntary label intended to rate its nutritional value.

But Australia’s HSR system has been up for review, and up for debate, with a paper published by the Sax Institute this week suggesting the underlying formulas are outdated.

“Our work has shown that the Health Star Rating system is promoting both ultra-processed and discretionary foods … because it’s looking at nutrients in isolation rather than taking a holistic approach to diet,” says Vidgen, who co-authored the paper.

A second article published by the institute, written by experts involved with the system, takes a more positive view, arguing that the labels are well-recognised and leading manufacturers to make their products healthier to improve their rating.

“The available evidence suggests that people are using the system to influence product choice at point of purchase and are changing their long-term purchasing behaviour,” they wrote in Public Health Research and Practice.

A five-year review of the system has flagged changes that would give unhealthy discretionary foods fewer stars.

Some parenting styles may create vulnerable narcissists, who are more likely to develop eating disorders, according to Australian National University research published this week.

Not as overbearing as grandiose narcissists, the vulnerable narcissists internalise many traits, which puts them at greater risk of binge eating, purging, and over-concern with body shape and weight.

“People with this personality type are more susceptible to eating disorders because they have a high focus on receiving validation from others to maintain a positive sense of self,” says researcher Danushika Sivanathan.

Meanwhile, Phillipa Hay, director of the Wesley Eating Disorders Centre, is arguing for the criteria for clinical diagnosis of eating disorders to be expanded beyond the stereotype of the “young, thin, wealthy female”.

“Some of my patients assume they must not have an eating disorder, because they are not underweight, and so have been left undiagnosed until much later in life,” Hay says.

“This is a major mental health concern, particularly considering that the comorbidity of eating disorders puts sufferers at an increased risk of depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.”