Your Relationship with Food Matters

After nearly three decades of working in the field of nutrition and seeing clients every week, I’ve come to recognize a powerful truth: the way we relate to food often tells a deeper story. The more I listen to my clients, the more I see how their relationship with food shapes their health, well-being, and even their emotional landscape.

Our relationship with food needs to be a healthy one. So often, chronic health conditions are deeply tied to how we’ve used—or misused—food throughout our lives. Food isn’t just fuel; it’s emotional, cultural, nostalgic, and personal.

Think about it—how many reasons do we find to eat?

• We eat for happiness

• We eat to feel comforted

• We eat to relive memories of mom or grandma’s kitchen, exotic travels, or the carefree days of childhood

• We eat when we celebrate and sometimes when we’re sad (hello, post-breakup ice cream!).

Food is tied to feelings—joy, grief, love, longing, rebellion—and it shows up in countless forms throughout our lives. After years of practice and poring over research, I’ve seen just how intricate and layered our food behaviors can be.

But here’s the good news: we can work on this relationship. We can bring awareness to it. We can untangle old patterns and build new, healthier ones.

So take a moment. Think about your relationship with food. Look at it with curiosity—not judgment. Ask yourself: What’s working? What’s not? And what small changes can I make?

Eat Healthy. Be Happy.

Kanan Thakore RDN, CDCES