The Secret to Healthy Eating Might Not Be What You Eat

The Secret to Healthy Eating Might Not Be What You Eat – But Something Else Health 04 April 2026 By Nina Van Dyke & Rosemary V. Calder, The Conversation (Jordi Salas/Moment/Getty Images) When most people think about "healthy eating", they usually focus on what they eat. That might mean trying to eat more fruit and vegetables or less fast food, or counting calories. But there's a lot more to healthy eating than just dietary intake. Behaviours and attitudes around food are also important . Take, for example, orthorexia nervosa , which is an obsessive preoccupation with consuming only "healthy" foods. If healthy eating only means ingesting healthy foods, then people with orthorexia are super healthy. But people who live with this eating disorder often struggle with relationships and report poor quality of life, among other issues. Research suggests that shifting the focus from food itself to our experience of eating can have a range of health benefits. Let's take a look. Why are we so obsessed with diet? Equating "healthy eating" with "healthy diet" may have taken off in the early 1980s with panic over the " obesity epidemic " in Western countries – defined as a rapid rise in the prevalence of people in the population with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater. But causes of obesity are complex and poorly understood , with numerous possible explanations beyond simply what a person eats. And admonishing overweight people to eat "healthier" has done nothing to reduce population rates of obesity. There is some evidence that this fixation on weight has resulted in increased rates of disordered eating and eating disorders – both of which involve problematic eating behaviours and distorted attitudes towards food, weight, shape and appearance. Clearly, something needs to change in how we think about healthy eating. Shifting the focus from food itself to our experience of eating can have a range of health benefits. (Tetra Images/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images) Listening to your body A growing body of research on intuitive eating has found this approach has an array of health benefits . Intuitive eating means trusting internal body cues that tell us when, what and how much to eat. For example, tuning into your stomach growling telling you it's time to eat, or noticing feeling full or satisfied, or that you may crave certain foods because your body wants specific nutrients (such as protein after exercising). Studies have shown this approach can lead to better physical and mental health as well as better diet quality , and is associated with lower BMIs. Research also shows eating at regular intervals and eating with other people also lead to better overall health and diet. But if you find it hard, you're not alone Most of us are surrounded by food environments that make healthy eating difficult. Unhealthy food environments promote overeating and encourage us to override our innate signals of hunger and fullness. When we're surrounded by cheap and accessible