The food reward system evolved to
make us healthy, and the evidence from
food combining, salt intake, and protein
intake is that it does, in fact, induce us to
eat in the optimal way. For these foods
and others, following our innate taste
preferences is the healthiest course.
So eat tasty, delicious meals.
Delicious food is good for your health!
There is a concern among some
researchers that eating tasty food may
encourage people to overeat.
We believe this concern is valid in
the case of nonnourishing junk food. On
a junk food diet, the body will crave
nourishment and the brain will keep
sending you back for more food until the
body has been nourished.
However, we believe that most
people will have no tendency to overeat
on a Paleo-style diet composed of real
foods—plants and animals. Real food
nourishes and satisfies. However
enjoyable a Paleo meal may be, it’s
unlikely you’ll feel a desire to continue
eating and eating.
So go ahead, eat a steak and potato!
It’s good for you.
Strategies for Limiting
Overeating
If you do find that eating tasty, delicious
food causes you to overeat, there are
well-attested methods for reducing
caloric intake:
• “Hara hachi bu” is an ancient
Confucian principle: Eat until
you are 80 percent full. Step
away from the table before you
are stuffed.
• Intermittent fasting is a proven
technique for calorie restriction,
which has many health benefits.
Skip either the first or last meal
of the day—breakfast or dinner
—to extend the overnight fast to
sixteen hours. You’ll find this is
easy to do on a low-carb Paleostyle
diet.
• During your fast, eat a spoonful
of an MCT oil or coconut oil.
The psychologist Seth Roberts,
in The Shangri-La Diet, found
that eating such “tasteless
calories” in isolation suppresses
appetite.
There are also healthful ways to
increase calories expended, such as
exercise or exposure to cool
temperatures. All of these methods for
balancing caloric intake would be more
healthful than avoiding delicious food.
