Everything in Moderation Blog
Dr Sean Wheatley, MSc, PhD. Science and Research Lead.
If you are looking to lose weight, there is no shortage of people ready to offer advice – whether you ask for it or not. The offer of advice is usually well-intended, but, unfortunately, it is often misguided or unhelpful.
Amongst the wide range of suggestions you are likely to have encountered, you have no doubt been told to have “everything in moderation”. This is particularly likely to occur if you are making an effort to cut something out of your diet – the implication being that you are wrong for doing so.
As the title suggests, this blog takes a look at why advice to have “everything in moderation” is probably not going to help you achieve your health goals.
The issues with “moderation”
The most basic issue is that it doesn’t really mean anything. It is too vague to be practically useful. What is a moderate amount of cake? How much can I have, and how often, before I am no longer having it in “moderation”?
The bigger issue though is that for many people there are lots of foods – usually ultra-processed foods which combine processed fats with refined carbohydrates (often including sugar) – which simply cannot be limited to moderate amounts. That is primarily because they have been specifically designed and developed to make you want more of them. The way they combine ingredients, textures and flavours makes it difficult to stop eating them once you’ve started, and often leads to cravings for more if/when you do stop.
These foods do not contain the things that are good at helping us to feel full either, such as good quality protein and fibre. The net result is that they both actively prompt you to want to eat more, and they don’t tick any of the boxes that “real foods” do that make you want to eat less (i.e., by filling you up). This makes “moderation” difficult.
The perspective of having “everything in moderation” opens the door for these foods, but that door can be difficult to close. Many people even experience addiction (or, at least, addiction-like feelings) when it comes to certain foods. In these cases, “difficult” does not cover it, it can be all-but impossible to have these foods in moderation.
Why did anyone ever think “everything in moderation” was a good idea?
This advice harks back to a time where the nature of food was different. The world was not awash with the ultra-processed foods that it is now, and so there were not products that had been specifically manufactured to hijack the processes in the body which are designed to stop us from overeating. In that context, moderation was achievable. In the modern world, it often isn’t.
More recently, if you’ll permit me to be cynical for a moment, then it is likely that this messaging continues to be promoted by the manufacturers of unhealthy products in order to encourage people to keep on consuming them. They know full well that many people are unlikely to be able to do so in “moderation”, but they don’t care – they want you to start, they don’t want you to stop.
It’s okay to cut things out then?
Absolutely. It is perfectly reasonable, and often advisable, to avoid certain foods entirely. This is especially true if you are struggling to manage your weight.
Although having small amounts of foods that are clearly ultra-processed and unhealthy may not stop you meeting your health goals, if you struggle to eat these foods in small amounts then it will usually be better to cut them out entirely. The battle against the urges and cravings these foods can cause is not one you are likely to win, and you are not losing out on anything (from a nutritional perspective) by avoiding them.
As noted above, where addiction-like feelings and behaviours are present, then it may well be a necessity to cut out things that trigger this, as this makes limiting the intake of trigger foods to “moderate” amounts almost impossible. You wouldn’t encourage an alcoholic to consume alcohol in moderation, so why would you expect someone with a food addiction to do the same?
It is also worth noting – if you struggle to control your eating when you have certain foods, you are far from alone. It is not a personal failing, and this does not make you weak.
Which foods should be avoided?
Although the properties outlined above apply to many ultra-processed foods, different people will likely respond differently to different foods. Identifying foods that are triggers for YOU is therefore key. Once trigger foods have been identified, decisions can be made about what to do next – can you manage your eating behaviour when you have them, or would you be better avoiding them entirely?
Ultimately, the key to weight management is often to find the foods which help you feel fuller for longer (and to have more of them), and to find the foods that don’t (and to have less of them, or to cut them out altogether). Doing this, and taking steps to identify and to find strategies to address any other reasons you eat (e.g., due to boredom, habit or emotions), will go a long way to helping many people meet their health- and weight-related goals.
Doesn’t this take the fun out of food?
Some people may think this, but I would not agree. People have to make their own decisions, but in many cases:
– The benefits of improving physical and mental health and wellbeing by cutting out trigger foods outweigh any perceived loss from omitting said foods;
– The short-term feelings of “bliss” experienced when eating trigger foods are often outweighed by negative feelings that follow, whether psychological (e.g., guilt or regret) or physical (e.g., low energy or bloating).
– There are many enjoyable foods that are minimally processed and nutrient dense, so it is unfair to suggest that food is only fun if you reach for ultra-processed junk foods.
Ultimately people need to make their own choices. If they cannot meet their health goals whilst eating certain foods, they need to weigh up the pros and cons of continuing to include these foods as part of their diet. They can then make informed decisions about what they would, or would not, like to change.
Making lifestyle changes can be difficult at first, but the results are often more than worth it.
So, what’s the bottom line?
Having “everything in moderation” is unlikely to help people meet their health goals in the modern world. Ultra-processed foods are specifically designed to try and encourage people to want more of them, so having them in moderation is often not possible. Where this is the case, it is usually better to avoid trigger foods (i.e., foods that you struggle to manage your consumption of) than to try and have them in moderation.
Different foods may be triggers for different people, so it may take some experimentation to work out which foods you would be better cutting out from your diet. This effort is well worth it though, as cutting out trigger foods can have major benefits for your physical and mental health and wellbeing.
