Ever feel like the chatter about what you should or shouldn’t eat is never-ending? That’s food noise. Adopting a position of food neutrality will help to quiet that noise. Intuitive eaters relate to foods neutrally, instead of labeling good vs bad, healthy vs unhealthy, etc. Over time, as you improve this skill, you will quiet the food noise and turn it into something you might only occasionally notice in the background of your thoughts. Here are some tips on how to start that process and why it’s so important in making peace with food.

Section 1: Understanding Food Neutrality

What does it mean to view food neutrally? It means breaking the dichotomy of how diet culture has taught us to label food. Consider how often you hear food labeled: healthy, unhealthy, clean, good, bad, junk, red light, green light, etc. Instead of our brain categorizing foods into these moral camps, food neutrality builds a perspective toward all foods that is neutral and non-judgemental. 

Food neutrality is essential in fostering a healthy relationship with food. It reduces guilt and anxiety around eating. It prevents self-loathing and shameful feelings about what you eat. And it sets you up for long-term balanced eating habits built on your genuine preferences, gentle nutrition, and your mental, emotional and social health. 

Section 2: What Is Food Noise?

Food noise is the constant chatter- both from external and internal sources- about foods and health. It could be what to eat, what not to eat, what to cook for dinner, what to order at the restaurant, what groceries to buy, what food is healthy, what diet should you do, what diet is your friend doing, what new food trend is going around, what did you eat yesterday that you felt guilty about…. It never ends. Individuals wrestle with varying amounts of food noise in their head and in their environment, but those that have a history of chronic dieting or are currently experiencing disordered eating or eating disorders are likely dealing with a LOT of food noise all day, every day.

Think about all the places we encounter messages about food: social media, magazines, books, podcasts, news, friends, family members, doctors offices, restaurants, grocery stores PLUS anything you heard in the past that still rattles around in your brain.

The internal noise like personal food rules and restrictive thinking can be some of the hardest to quiet. You can change who you follow on social media, you can change which cookbooks you use, you can change which magazines you bring home, but it’s much more logistically difficult to flat out change your thoughts. 

It takes practice, it takes repetition, and it takes a compassionate approach. 

Impact of Food Noise:

Food noise disrupts your natural hunger cues and emotional well-being. It prevents you from being able to identify your own preferences, likes and dislikes. It feeds you constant information (true or untrue) about food and nutrition that doesn’t actually improve your health. It causes you emotional and mental stress to weigh all this information at all times. 

We don’t actually have to think that hard about what to eat. We can have a gentler, calmer and more *neutral* relationship with our food choices and still promote good health- physically, emotionally, mentally and socially.

How Intuitive Eating Counters Food Noise

Intuitive eating teaches honoring hunger, respecting fullness, and making peace with food. It teaches you to listen to your cravings, your food preferences, your stomach, and to consider what foods will bring not just fullness but also satisfaction. 

It teaches you to tune into your body, while tuning out the unhelpful food noise. Often, we don’t need to listen to our thoughts to use our internal cues; we need to listen to our body. 

The intuitive eating principles of rejecting diet mentality and having unconditional permission to eat are integrally connected to the concepts of food neutrality and quieting the food noise. Rejecting the diet mentality is another way of saying rejecting the food noise in your brain and in the culture. It requires food neutrality; if no foods are good/bad/healthy/unhealthy, then there’s no diet or rules to follow. If there are no “bad” foods, then there's no reason to limit or restrict your food options.

The Role of a Dietitian in Supporting Food Neutrality

Working with an intuitive eating dietitian can help you develop and maintain food neutrality. They can help you identify thought patterns that keep you stuck. They support you in unlearning food labels while still providing you with trustworthy, evidence-based gentle nutrition information. They help you talk through your fears about adopting food neutrality and answer common questions, like “Will I lose control and start binge eating if I treat all foods as equal?”

A dietitian will help you focus on nourishment, satisfaction, and well-being to transform your relationship with food. They will remind you of the truth: that no food is inherently good or bad, and help keep you on track when the food noise tries to creep back in.

Practical Tips for Embracing Food Neutrality

• Recognize Food Labels: Start identifying food labels and then reframing them. You may see physical labels on foods in the store, or you may notice when labels pop into your brain when a food is mentioned. The first step toward food neutrality is noticing when the dichotomous labeling happens.

• Challenge Food Rules: Acknowledge and question restrictive beliefs or rules around certain foods. Now that you are taking note of how you label foods (and how food companies label them), you can begin to develop awareness around the internal rules and restrictions you set around certain foods. If you feel ready, you can begin to challenge those rules by breaking them and noticing- with curiosity and compassion- what happens. Never let yourself have a donut in the office break room? Try it out one morning and see what happens. Notice your thoughts. Notice how your body feels. Discuss the experience with your dietitian, if you’re working with one.

• Mindful Eating: Practice mindful eating to stay present and connected with your body’s needs. Check in with your hunger and fullness levels before, once during, and after your meal. Limit distractions while you eat and think about the sensations and experience of eating. Instead of nutrition metrics (calories, fat, carbohydrates, etc) think about the taste, the smell, who you’re sharing the meal with or where the origin of the recipe came from. 

• Silencing External Noise: Remember we talked about it being difficult to change your own thoughts about food overnight? It can take some time to begin naturally and unconsciously embracing food neutrality. So one of the best things you can do for yourself right away is to limit exposure to harmful external food messages. Unfollow accounts that label foods good or bad and promote diets. Reduce media consumption like books, podcasts and magazines that have diet-heavy messages. If you have cookbooks or follow food blogs that are heavily into “healthy,” “clean” or “whole-30/paleo/keto/” recipes, consider putting those away for a while. 

As you silence external food noise and work consistently on practicing food neutrality, one day it will become your new normal and you won’t have to consciously reframe your diet-thoughts anymore, they’ll be neutral from the beginning. 

Embrace the journey towards food neutrality as an ongoing process. Just like learning intuitive eating, it’s not going to be linear. See every day as a learning experience and lean hard into grace, self-compassion, curiosity and kindness. 

Trust your body’s wisdom and seek support from professionals like dietitians who advocate for food freedom and intuitive eating. I would love to work with you. If you’re not ready for one-on-one support, I also have a brand new body cues workbook coming out Fall 2024. Make sure you are signed up for email newsletters so you will be the first to know when it’s available. As a bonus for subscribing, you’ll get my Hello Intuitive Eating Workbook sent right to your inbox.