Oprah Winfrey’s relationship with food and diet culture has been well-documented. For years, she was an ambassador for Weight Watchers and even a member of the weight loss program’s board. Once in the 1980s, after depriving herself of food for months, she dragged a wagon of animal fat out on to the stage of her talk show to represent how much weight she’d lost. Winfrey has long been a champion of diet culture, but she is also a victim of widespread body shaming, like many in the public eye. She said in a recent TV special, called Shame, Blame And The Weight Loss Revolution, that “making fun” of her weight had turned into a “national sport.”
When Winfrey started taking Ozempic—a brand of the type 2 diabetes and weight loss drug semaglutide that regulates a hormone called GLP-1—she started having revelations about the reasons why she had struggled in diet culture for so long.
Oprah
“One of the things that I realized the very first time I took a GLP-1 was that all these years I thought that thin people had more willpower,” she said on an episode of her podcast, Super Soul. “They ate better foods. They were able to stick to it longer. They never had a potato chip. And then I realized the very first time I took the GLP-1 that, ‘Oh, they’re not even thinking about it. They’re only eating when they’re hungry, and they’re stopping when they’re full.’”
Winfrey is referring to the concept of “food noise,” which means having persistent food-related thoughts, regardless of how hungry you are. Some, like Winfrey, may look to weight loss drugs to help them tackle food noise. If you’re thinking about this, it’s important to discuss your options with your healthcare provider first. But there are other ways to manage food noise. We spoke to Jillian G. Lampert PhD, RD, MPH, FAED of eating disorder platform The Emily Program and nutrition expert Dawn Menning, RD, CDCES to find out more.
What is food noise?
“Food noise” is not a technical term with a universal scientific definition, but many people can relate to it. Lampert explains that it’s a “common experience” and refers to constant thoughts about food “regardless of hunger or fullness.” She added that it can be frustrating and distressing for many people, but it’s different for everyone. “In extremes, food noise can interfere with or inhibit daily tasks and make focus during work, school, or other responsibilities extremely difficult,” she says.
Getty
Aside from the psychological impacts of food noise, it can also have an impact on physical health. It can cause people to consume unnecessary amounts of food, or lead them into a pattern of binging and restricting, which are examples of disordered eating patterns. According to The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, disordered eating is a range of “irregular eating behaviors.” It does not necessarily lead to a diagnosis of an eating disorder, like anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.
Many experts now believe that food noise could be genetic. “[It’s related to having a] highly attuned reward center in the brain that results in heightened anticipation of food or the reward of eating,” explains Lampert. She adds that food noise can impact anyone, but it tends to be more common in people who engage in disordered eating or dieting behaviors. “Generally, for those who are already highly conscious of their body or food intake, there is a high correlation with experiencing food noise,” she says.
How to quiet down the food noise
Food noise is a complicated issue to address. For those with eating disorders, for example, treatment requires addressing complex mental health issues. Even for those who struggle with dieting or disordered eating, addressing food noise is not straightforward.
“At the most basic level, practices in self-acceptance and body neutrality are essential for building a healthy relationship with food,” explains Lampert. “Often, but not always, eating disorders and disordered eating habits (irregular or restrictive food consumption behaviors, including dieting) are rooted in negative body image or a negative experience related to food or eating.”
She adds that with the right support, individuals struggling with disordered eating patterns can help to reframe feelings about their body, moving away from purely appearance, and in turn, this may help some build a healthier relationship with food. “For some people, setting healthy boundaries around media and content consumption as well as mindfulness practices like yoga and meditation can be beneficial, tangible actions to reconnect with the body’s natural cues,” she says.
Pexels
Can certain foods reduce food noise?
Menning agrees that many factors contribute to food noise. “It can come from a variety of sources,” she says. “Emotions, environmental cues, social pressure, diet culture, advertising, and personal thoughts or beliefs about food.” Simply making different food choices is unlikely to address the root cause of disordered eating or food noise.
But if you’re struggling with persistent hunger, some foods might be more beneficial than others. Ultra-processed foods, for example, tend to be low in nutrients and calorie-dense, but, ultimately, not very filling. One study conducted by Kevin D. Hall, PhD, a senior investigator for the National Institute of Health for a BBC documentary, found that ultra-processed foods increased the hormone that is responsible for hunger and decreased the hormone responsible for making us feel full.
Plant-based whole foods, on the other hand, are high in fiber, protein, and healthy fats, which may help some people manage their hunger better, explains Menning.
“Eating nutrient dense foods with fiber adds bulk to the meals and slows digestion which helps control hunger,” she explains.
She adds that plant-based whole foods “may help reduce food cravings, keep you full longer, and support healthy blood sugar levels.” But again, Menning acknowledges that food choices are just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to food noise. Getting enough sleep and managing stress are important, too. “Look for patterns,” she advises. “Journal what emotions you feel when you get a craving.”
Lampert stresses that there is support available if it all feels overwhelming. “It is totally normal for individuals not to know where to start, and in such cases, having a support system or strong examples to look towards are extremely helpful,” she says. “For some, this may mean leaning on loved ones, and for others, this may mean exploring specialized treatment options. The bottom line is that food noise and obsessions over food and body don’t have to be your normal.”
For more resources on eating disorders and disordered eating, you can find The Emily Program’s website here.
For more plant-based stories like this, read:
JUMP TO ... Latest News | Recipes | Guides | Health | Subscribe
Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
