How Love of Novelty Gets in the Way of Our Health
Brain science tells us that attraction to novelty, or sensation-seeking, is stronger in some than in others.
Seeking novelty can work against us when we have weight loss or healthy eating goals.
Developing self-control around food choices can be developed by working on one small habit change at a time.
It’s no secret that successful marketing often depends on presenting “the latest thing," or something “new and improved" or “completely new” to entice buyers to make a purchase. This works in many areas, from washing machines, running shoes, potato chips, and light bulbs to the latest diet.
Why does this work?
For an answer, let’s take a look at some other phrases for seeking novelty—looking for a thrill, a change in a routine, alleviation of boredom, looking for variety, or seeking some emotional stimulation.
The brain science behind this is complex, but it appears that our attraction to novelty is related to seeking an immediate reward. This makes sense when you take a look at what attracts us to novelty: instant gratification. In contrast, there is the use of self-control to eschew an immediate reward for some long-term goal.
Several genetic links have been found in humans related to reward-seeking and exploratory behaviors. These are similar to findings in mice, in which some mice appear predisposed to seeking excitatory rewards and others are not. One of the main players in reward behavior seeking is the brain chemical dopamine. Dopamine gets released in the brain in response to pleasure. In mice, and in humans, there are individuals who are high responders to the reward of dopamine release in the brain, and individuals who are low responders. This has been studied in people who tend to get addicted to alcohol, drugs, or those who often make poor food choices.
Put in terms of food choices, high responders are more likely to have difficulty controlling the urge to eat highly rewarding foods like chocolate cake, chips, or burgers and fries.
How this plays out
It is not clear exactly what percent of humans are high responders to dopamine. It is likely, however, that the response is on a continuum. That would mean that a good percentage of the population likes seeking novelty and reward at some level. This makes sense when you notice how often marketers use novelty as an incentive to buy.
Making a leap here, those percentages could follow along with the percentages we see today for overweight and obese individuals. As of now, 70% or our population is overweight or obese. Could it be that seeking novelty is keeping many of us hooked on rewarding foods, rationalizing our food choices, or looking for the next fad diet?
It bears repeating that we are now surrounded by processed and manufactured foods that are designed to be highly palatable and rewarding. That is not the only route to a reward when it comes to eating, but it is a ubiquitous and compelling one, especially for some. Aside from taste sensation, there are potential perceived social rewards, approval from family, or adherence to cultural norms.
It’s easy to see how difficult it can be to ignore all those forces in order to make healthier food choices.
Can individuals who have difficulty with self-control be trained to delay gratification and make better food choices? Perhaps more to the point, can we learn to ignore the plethora of rewarding foods and other signals that surround us every day? Can awareness of this tendency help us make better food choices because we know what we are up against? And if we can change food choice behaviors, what are the factors that are most at play, and how can we turn that into a specific, effective, protocol?
What the research says
Research is not as clear on this as you might expect. In spite of many theories of health behavior change, research studies directly addressing the mechanisms behind enhancing self-control are lacking, and many are of very short duration.
But some studies point to some reliable parameters.
Set up reminders for each person’s long-term goals and motives.
Self-control is developed through developing automatic, habitual behaviors rather than using effort to avoid unhealthy foods.
Make small habit changes. They require less effort to control.
Let each person choose which small habit they are going to work on so that it feels like something that is doable for them.
Emphasize situational solutions rather than global ones. This goes in concert with choosing one small habit to work on at a time, while keeping in mind the larger, long-term goal that each person develops for themselves.
Because of our common human temperament of novelty seeking, we are attracted to programs that offer easy, quick, solutions, or the next big thing. Research regarding our tendencies to seek novelty can shed light on why it is so difficult for many to have success changing their food consumption habits, and possibly lead to new solutions.