In this article about the psychological effect of dieting on your brain: Almost everyone has tried a diet or adjusted their lifestyle at some point. Eating healthier, training more, or quitting smoking, for example. Now think about how you felt at that moment. Were you happy, energetic, and did your change go smoothly? Maybe, but in most cases, not. There’s a good chance you felt moody, tired, a heavy burden on your shoulders, or worse: it failed. A physical goal often seems to have (negative) consequences for your mental well-being. But to what extent is this scientifically accurate, or are these psychological effects that we think we observe? We’ll explain it to you.
The psychological effect of dieting on your brain explained
The placebo and nocebo effect
Our brain plays a significant role in our lives. We think all day long, often even unconsciously. To understand the important role of our brain in the success or failure of a diet or lifestyle, we first delve deeper into the expectation effect. The well-known placebo effect is the positive expectation effect and is described as the belief in the effectiveness of a certain medication, even though it contains no active ingredients. This phenomenon is explained by trust, belief, hope, or the positive expectation that it works. In this way, your brain can really trick you. This effect also exists in reverse; the nocebo effect is the negative expectation effect. When you are convinced beforehand that a medication will have a negative impact on you, you are more likely to experience negative consequences. These terms are known from the medical world but apply generally to our brain and are therefore also applicable to nutrition.
The proven effects of nutrition on our brain
Knowing that the expectations we have about nutrition influence our thoughts, it can be interesting to test whether these self-perceived negative consequences actually occur. Scientists thought so too. When people start a diet, they often expect to experience negative consequences such as moodiness, cravings for food, a feeling of weakness, and/or fatigue. Research has shown that being on a diet does not actually have negative effects on your mental health. For example: researchers Lieberman et al. 2008 tested this by giving healthy individuals alternating food (blind and based on gel) of 2294 calories and then 313 calories, and then subjecting them to psychological tests. What turned out? The food shortage had little effect on their mood, sleep quality, and mental performance. This is just one example from the various studies that have proven this. Your body generally needs some time to adjust to a new diet, but this is quickly accepted and seen as normal.
Master of your own brain
Have you ever experienced these negative consequences? Then there’s a good chance your brain has tricked you. Virtually all negative effects of how you feel and how you function are a nocebo effect. The negative effects you feel do not come from your body suffering from a lack of nutrients: it’s all in your head. The result is that many diets fail. What now? It sounds easier said than done, but if you don’t focus on the fact that you are dieting, you will feel just fine. The trick is to become the master of your own brain and not get stuck in negative thoughts and expectations. Turn it around; if you think and expect that you will succeed, the chances are greater that you will indeed succeed.
Do you recognize yourself in this, do you want to know more about these psychological effects, or do you need help achieving your goal? Contact us. We are happy to share our knowledge with you and ensure that you achieve your objectives!
Source: “Psychology, how to ensure someone sticks to a program.” Bayesian Body Building.
Also read: 5 breakfasts with more than 25 grams of protein · more articles on our blog · personal training at Daadkracht.
