In defense of “fun” foods
In our book, Marcia and I talk about the importance of what we call “fun foods,” snacks, “junk food” and desserts made up of simple carbohydrates and fats. These are foods that are eaten solely for pleasure, not because they provide any particular nutrients. The idea is that once you have fulfilled all your body’s nutritional needs for the day, you can indulge, in moderation, in foods that just taste good. Normal eaters typically consume one to three servings of fun food per day, usually at the end of a meal or as a snack.
You’ve probably gathered that we are hardly doctrinaire about eating. In part that’s because treating eating disorders is all about getting away from being “the food police” to yourself or your loved ones and showing that, despite what health food enthusiasts and anti-obesity crusaders would have everyone believe, no one food group has a moral edge over another.
Many people view fun foods as unhealthy and fattening and therefore substances to be avoided. For people who hold this repressive world view, eating fun foods can create anxiety and guilt. Those negative feelings can then lead to I’ve-lapsed-by-eating-one-cookie-so-may-as-well-eat-the-whole-bag behavior. The notion that fun foods will trigger episodes of overeating takes hold.
This is why eating-disordered patients avoid fun foods except as constituents of a binge. Treatment involves overcoming the fear of fun foods, which for them have become “fear foods.” Perhaps the most compelling argument for fun foods is that their judicious consumption prevents overeating and bingeing, making them important components of a healthy diet. A serving of fun food at the end of a meal puts a natural boundary around that eating episode. Once dessert is eaten, most people stop eating. Nobody wants more casserole after they have had a brownie. Several years ago, a controlled experiment of binge eaters found that after meals containing protein, binge-eaters stop further eating by consuming “sweet-tasting, palatable food.”
Marcia also explains to her patients that the healthfulness of one’s diet is best assessed by looking at its total nutrient composition, not by assessing the nutritional quality of each food that is consumed. It’s like Nancy’s son’s argument that he can be a well-rounded and intelligent person and still enjoy playing video games.
We are not saying that fun foods should take the place of other foods you need to meet your body’s nutrient requirements. Try this and you are likely to run into health problems, such as the brittle hair, dry skin and frequent colds that would result if you, say, replaced protein with fun foods. But it’s not the fault of donuts, or ice cream, or whatever your fun food choice might be. If you replaced protein in your diet with more fruits and vegetables, you’d run into other health problems, such as feeling sluggish and constantly fatigued.
The bottom line is that if you meet your nutrient needs with well-chosen foods at meals, whether or not you eat several moderate servings of desserts or snack foods each day is of no health consequence.
Hard as it may seem to believe, most people with normal metabolisms will, after fulfilling their daily nutrient needs for essential protein, fat, carbs, fibers, vitamins and minerals, still have caloric needs to fill in order to maintain enough energy throughout the day. These needs can be met through choosing additional nutrient-rich foods or by adding fun foods. For instance, after eating a well-chosen meal that takes care of nutrient needs, you could choose to eat either more dinner, three apples, or a bowl of ice cream to meet your caloric needs.
Marcia’s eating-disordered patients find including fun foods in their food plans one of their most difficult tasks. She reminds them that consumption of these foods is standard protocol in hospital and residential eating-disorder treatment centers and cautions patients against approaching fun foods as special treats to be consumed infrequently. Sporadic consumption of these foods makes them seem even more enticing, and like other forbidden foods, more likely to trigger a binge when eaten. Consuming fun foods twice a day every day effectively destigmatizes them, making them less desirable. When fun foods are consumed every day, most people report that they do not taste as good as they had imagined; they have become a normal, but still enjoyable, part of daily life.
Take care,
Marcia and Nancy