As a dietitian, I often extol the nutrition benefits of eating a variety of foods. You know the drill: more variety equals a wider range of nutrients and other healthy food compounds. But there’s another side to the story that we often ignore: sometimes the pursuit of variety can work against you. Shocked? Don’t worry, I’m not advocating for boring food or eating the same thing all the time forever and ever. But sometimes variety makes sense, and other times it adds unwelcome complexity.
When More Variety Makes Eating More Complicated
In busy seasons of life, making a big effort to maximize variety in your meals means increased decision fatigue. And often these extra decisions only lead to unnecessary additional work. Think about how much time and effort is required to change things up. Researching new recipes, adding options to every grocery trip, rotating different snacks, meal prepping, cooking, and cleaning up afterward—whew! And don’t forget about planning ahead. The later in the day it gets, the harder it is to make healthy meal decisions. This isn’t to say that we should forget about variety completely. It just doesn’t need to show up everywhere, all the time. When life is chaotic, having a smaller set of familiar, healthy, and reliable meals can make day-to-day eating easier.
Variety May Lead to Eating More
Our brains are wired to respond to novelty. New flavors, textures, cuisines, and foods are simply more stimulating to us. But research consistently shows an association between greater food variety and increased food intake. This occurs in both animals and humans, and it helps explain some of the appeal of buffet-style meals. Sensory-specific satiety is a term that refers to our natural decline in interest in food that we’ve already sampled, while foods we haven’t yet eaten are still enticing. No wonder it’s hard to say “no” to dessert even though we’re already more than full! And greater variety among what scientists call “highly palatable foods,” like sweets and snacks, can also lead to overeating.
“Default Meals” Can Make Healthy Eating More Automatic
Limiting meal variety can support your eating and health goals if you do it with intention and forethought. Here’s how: come up with a few “default meals” that you enjoy, and are also healthy and balanced. These meals only limit variety in your diet in the sense that you’re not eating something different every single night. It’s not that the meals themselves don’t include a variety of foods—default meals definitely don’t have to be boring! And in exchange for less meal variety, you free yourself from coming up with new menus each day, or new entrees for dinner each night.
What types of meals should be default meals? You get to decide! You already know what types of meals work for your diet goals, so start with those as default choices. And if they’re easy to prepare, like sheet pan meals for example, even better. Many people benefit from reducing breakfast decisions to get out the door faster in the morning. So having 2-3 breakfast ideas and at least 3 dinner ideas may be all you need. You’ll find that default meals reduce decision fatigue and simplify meal planning and grocery shopping. They can also help you keep portions and nutrients more consistent day to day.
Keep Variety Where It Matters Most
Variety is a central principle for a healthy diet, and has the ability to boost overall nutrition. You can still take advantage of variety’s benefits by maximizing it where it does the most good. Here is where I’d suggest indulging your variety vibe:
- Fruits and vegetables
- Whole grains
- Legumes, pulses, nuts and seeds
- Plant-based protein sources
This doesn’t mean you won’t eat any other types of foods. But you’ll reap more nutrients if you mix it up in the categories above. Be strategic in support of your dietary goals by simplifying your choices in some areas, and diversifying them in others. For example, animal proteins are still fine to eat, but you may opt to limit variety for health reasons. Maybe you’ll emphasize mostly chicken, fish, eggs, and lean beef options to keep saturated fat levels down. Or minimize your intake of highly processed meats like lunch meats, frozen chicken tenders, and hot dogs. Using Guiding Stars shelf tags to find items that are more nutritious can also be a great grocery shopping hack to save time as you pick out these items at your store.
Support Weight Management: Minimize Variety in Certain Food Categories
Since our brains love novelty, it can be tough not to pick up a new flavor of ice cream, cereal, or granola bar. But plentiful options of desserts and sweet snacks are probably not going to do you any favors. Instead, they’ll likely make it harder to stick to your healthy eating habits. Don’t let yourself be distracted by every new treat that shows up on the store shelves. Instead, find a few things you enjoy and can work into your eating plan occasionally, or learn to make healthier treats for yourself.