Highly restrictive, low-calorie diets increase mental obsession with food ('food noise'). Freeing oneself from this culture of restriction helps reduce mental load and regain daily focus.

noli's read

The landmark Minnesota clinical study (Keys et al., 1950) effectively shows that severe, prolonged caloric restriction causes a constant mental obsession with food. Furthermore, several observational and experimental studies confirm that strict short-term deprivation triggers a psychological rebound effect that amplifies fixation on food. However, the claim that any calorie restriction worsens this phenomenon requires nuance. A major meta-analysis (Kahathuduwa et al., 2017) shows that moderate, well-structured long-term caloric adjustment actually tends to reduce the intensity of food cravings through a deconditioning mechanism. The impact on our mental load therefore depends largely on the severity and abruptness of the change rather than simply the decrease in energy intake.

the sources

1. 1Stewart TM, Williamson DA, White MA 2002
2. 2Neumark-Sztainer D et al. 2007