Psychosomatics vs Food

[inFlow]

I recently had an awakening on how my own mind gives me way worse symptoms than food itself.

Lets say I ate something that I judge as bad, later I feel bad after I consume it. But the food itself has little to no actual effect on my body and mind, but my mind has a very powerful effect that causes me to feel off. If I react to something that is happening, lets say I feel a slower digestion, the belly feels full and bloated I somewhat micro-freak out and think to myself "Yeah, that food is bad for me" and thus make the situation way worse than it actually is. I feel like I'am creating anxiety. And once I actually eat something "bad" without thinking, when I'am happy and don't judge myself for eating, I feel so great! And at first I didn't understand until I contemplated it deeper.

I'am not advocating that you should eat everything, good diet is still king and has a difference on daily life.

Anyone has similar experience?

[Michael569]

Great observation and yeah, absolutely! The effects of food on your body can be exacerbated by held beliefs about that food. To some extend at least. 

Some of the The deeper mechanisms, such as, say the impact of food derived antioxidants on your immune system or certain fats on your metabolism may be independent from it tho. 

But the effects on your mental health, for example where you feel like your diet is in direct violation of your core beliefs(. E.g. being in an environment where you have to eat things you don't believe are good for you) can be devastating. 

Edited May 20 by Michael569

[Sugarcoat]

Omg yes! 
 

I noticed if I kept my mind really positive, or neutral. I could even feel good from seemingly bad food. 
 

It wasn’t until I dissolved most of my mind, dissolved all my beliefs, that I found true health. Health independent of mental judgements. 

One time something crazy to me happened. I was listening to a video of a woman talking about how the body detoxes. I felt this “whole body resonance” with her video, and suddenly my stomach rumbled and I had to go to the bathroom like twice and had diarrhea. It’s very odd . It’s like my body kickstarted some kind of detoxing by listening to her!
 

I could elaborate more but I can’t come up with much at the moment . 

Edited May 22 by Sugarcoat

[Carl-Richard]

On 20.5.2025 at 11:18 AM, inFlow said:

Anyone has similar experience?

Yes, but becoming aware of it like you have now helps a lot. However, the placebo effects really happens all the time in all situations, so trying to single it out when it happens or when it doesn't happen is really not that useful. You just have to live with it really but also learn to feel the true physiological effects of food (e.g. my neck sometimes tightens up in a weird way if I eat pizza that has a lot of dough in it). Also, really all the times I eat bad food, it's because I chose to be in that situation and I was aware of what was going to happen, and then I'm more accepting of it. However, I tend to just eat fruit afterwards and it gets better. Dietary fiber and phytochemicals are so incredibly good for you, it's a shame people don't eat more of them.