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You are here: Home / Family and Relationships / Be Grateful, Eat Less

December 21, 2021

Be Grateful, Eat Less

Can practicing gratitude help you make healthier food choices? The answer is, YES!

Research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology indicated that practicing gratitude can have a positive impact on your food choices. Participants were asked to pick 1 of 3 topics to focus on:

  • gratitude to someone that helped them with their health,
  • someone who helped them with their schooling, or
  • someone that did something kind for them.

Each participant spent 5 minutes per week writing in their gratitude journal and was asked to spend 30 minutes each week improving themselves in the area associated with their gratitude topic.

The participants reported healthier eating habits within a month. Three months after the conclusion of their journaling, their healthier food choices had begun to wane, howegratful person raising handsver, their choices were still better than they initially reported prior to practicing gratitude weekly.

Focusing on being grateful for even one area of your life can have a positive trickle-down effect, aiding you to make better food choices. Feeling grateful can help you regulate your emotions, aiding you to feel happier. Negative feelings such as sadness, loneliness, stress, anger, fear, or even nervousness can result in emotional eating behaviors, which typically include sugary, sweet, salty, and fatty foods (all those comfort style foods).

Gratitude isn’t the miracle diet cure, but it is a great way to find more joy in your life, increase your happiness, and if it helps you to make healthier food choices, then it is gratitude for the WIN!

Here are some additional ways you can add gratitude to your everyday life!

  • Share gratitude each day by posting a tweet, Facebook post or Pinterest.
  • Post quotes and images that remind you to be grateful around your house.
  • Add to your gratitude list daily, at least one more thing each day.
  • Smile more often.
  • Notice the beauty in nature each day.

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WRITTEN BY: Dr. Roseanne E. Scammahorn, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, OSU Extension Darke County

REVIEWED BY: Melissa Rupp, MS , Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, OSU Extension Fulton County

SOURCES:

  • Conlon, C. (nd). 40 Simple ways to practice gratitude. Retrieved from https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/40-simple-ways-practice-gratitude.html
  • Fritz, M., Armenta, C., Walsh, L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2019). Gratitude facilitates healthy eating behavior in adolescents and young adults. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 81(4-14). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103117308569
  • Harmon, M. (2019, April 11). Don’t Worry, Be Happy. Live Smart Ohio, Ohio State University Extension. Retrieved from https://livesmartohio.osu.edu/mind-and-body/harmon-416osu-edu/dont-worry-be-happy/
  • Harmon, M. (2017, August 11). Thank you. Live Smart Ohio, Ohio State University Extension. Retrieved from https://livesmartohio.osu.edu/mind-and-body/harmon-416osu-edu/thank-you/
  • Hopper, E. (2019, November 19). Four Ways Gratitude Helps You with Difficult Feelings. Greater Good Magazine. Retrieved from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/four_ways_gratitude_helps_you_with_difficult_feelings#:~:text=Research%20suggests%20that%20grateful%20people,stress%20and%20regulating%20their%20emotions.&text=Feeling%20grateful%20can%20bring%20us,physical%20health%20and%20improved%20relationships.
  • Scammahorn, R. (2020, March 30). Emotional eating…the battle within. Live Healthy Live Well, Ohio State University Extension. Retrieved from https://livehealthyosu.com/2020/03/30/emotional-eatingthe-battle-within/

Categories: Family and Relationships, Mind and Body
Tags: Eating right, emotions management, gratitude, Gratitude Journal, healthy eating

Avatar for Roseanne Scammahorn
Avatar for Roseanne Scammahorn

About Roseanne Scammahorn

Roseanne is a FCS educator in Darke county.

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