As Type 1’s, I think, we all try to “eat well.” Why is it sometimes so hard? Because, it’s been programmed into our genes, people prefer calorie-dense foods, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, August 2016 and reported by Dr. Gabe Mirkin in his Fitness & Health Newsletter, October 2017.
Our hunter-gatherer ancestors spent all their waking hours scrounging for food and trying to keep from starving to death. They developed a taste for the most calorie-dense foods that satisfied best, such as honey, meats and starchy roots (the precursors of today’s potatoes, yams and taro). Today, when our major nutritional problem is too much food, not too little, we still have the same taste preferences for high-density-calorie foods that are making us fat (Am J Clin Nutr, July 2005;82(1):236S-241S). We should be eating lots of vegetables and fruits that are of low-calorie density and full of water and fiber (Trends in Food Science & Technology, Feb 2015;41(2):149-160).
Read more: Desire for Junk Food is in Your Genes
