You’ve all seen it splashed across facebook night after night. People taking endless pictures of their food and posting it for everyone to drool. Food porn may seem like a funny topic but it’s becoming an issue!! TV and commercials are the worst version of this. Our question was this…. if bad food could make you hungry for unhealthy options, could good “food porn” make you crave healthy choices?
Sites like tastespotting and foodgawker have made looking at food a very popular past time. Then Pinterest came on the scene and introduced it to a huge population of new viewers. The most popular foods on the web were of course desserts but coming in second were vegetables! Due to the vibrants colors of vegetables they make for great images. The bright greens, reds, and oranges draw your eye to the photo and suck you in with promises of health.
Pinterest has become the new online cookbook, but the pins have to be appealing and the reader has to choose to ignore the desserts for the better of their health.
The “Greatist” website had this to say about healthy food porn.
A photo of a meal can be much more inspiring than just reading a recipe, says Dr. Susan Albers, author of “Eating Mindfully,” a book in which she offers psychological techniques to help people develop healthy eating habits. “The visual element can connect you instantly with other memories and sensations.”
I asked Albers whether she thought just perusing photos of veggies could spur a change in someone’s diet. “Yes!” she answered, remembering a broccoli-hating client who gave the green stuff a second chance after she saw a to-die-for Pinterest photo of a broccoli-brown-rice casserole. (Maybe this one?) “Even looking [at] healthy food can stimulate cravings.”
Moreover, looking at a series of photos can sometimes be infinitely more practical than just paging through a picture-free cookbook. Planning and cooking meals is a “very visual” process, Palmer says. “I don’t have time to … read a whole recipe. I can just go onto Tastespotting and I’ll look at something and say, ‘Oh I have these ingredients. I can make this for dinner.’”
For dietitian and Greatist Expert Lindsey Joe, the reason “healthy” food porn works is because it reminds people they don’t have to rely on restaurant meals and store-bought snacks for good-tasting grub. “It gives people that extra push of inspiration or confidence to try something new when it comes to cooking or baking food for themselves,” she said. “Getting people more hands-on in the kitchen is an excellent place to start if [you’re] looking to pump up nutrition in your diet. (food porn source).”
I think it’s pretty clear, ditch the food shows for healthy food porn. If you have a healthy recipe that you would like to share with the readers, let us know and we’d be happy to post it! Do the world a favor and put healthy food on your facebook and pinterest pages! You friends and family will thank you for it!
Adria Ali
CPT, CES, PES, BS
Leave a Reply