There are people who are more predisposed than others to follow a type of diet considered healthy, now a study carried out by members of the Obesity and Nutrition area of the CIBER (CIBEROBN), of the Human Nutrition Unit of the Rovira i Virgili University (URV ) and the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV), has discovered that this could be conditioned by the individual’s impulsiveness.
The research, published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, found that people high in impulsive personality trait have a harder time following healthy dietary patterns and are more likely to follow an unhealthy diet over time.
These results have been based on the data obtained in a three-year follow-up of 460 voluntary participants belonging to four Spanish research centers. They analyzed their impulsive behavior and the type of diet they had, if it was more or less healthy.
Rushing to eat unhealthy foods and lack of planning
Specifically, the healthy dietary patterns analyzed were eight, which are intended to reduce hypertension, cardiovascular risk, cholesterol, cognitive decline and increase the levels of sustainability of the planet. As for unhealthy eating patterns, two were analyzed.
Impulsive people may eat worse because of the rush to eat unhealthy foods and lack of healthy menu planning
The findings indicated that people who had a more impulsive personality, that is, those who had a greater urgency to respond to their emotions and presented poorer planning, showed more difficulties when following a type of healthy diet focused on reducing anxiety. hypertension, cholesterol and cardiovascular diseases.
“These healthy dietary patterns contain less red and processed meat, and less refined carbohydrates, making it more difficult for these more impulsive people to restrict these foods since they are usually valued as more desirable, highlighting their urgency to eat them,” they explain. from CIBEROBN.
It was precisely this rush to eat these foods, added to the impossibility of planning other healthy options, which the researchers believe could be the cause of the greater adherence to unhealthy diets of impulsive people.
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