Dietary Restraint Fallacy

For decades, the prevailing assumption in the field of eating disorders has been that dietary restraint causes weight gain and eating disorder symptoms, like binge eating. This belief resulted in widespread recommendations to reduce dietary restraint in treatments of eating disorders and obesity. However, recent findings by Grilo and Pittman (2024; International Journal of Eating Disorders) contradict this view, showing reduced binge frequency and greater weight loss with increased rigid dietary restraint. This commentary critically evaluates the evidence supporting a causal link between dietary restraint and overeating, highlighting the limitations of longitudinal and observational studies and the misinterpretations of early laboratory research. Importantly, randomized controlled trials and experiments that directly manipulate calorie intake show that calorie restriction improves eating control and reduces eating disorder symptoms. Conceptual issues are discussed; self-reported dietary restraint is not an accurate reflection of actual calorie restriction. It is argued that cognitive processes like learned food cue reactivity, weak executive skills and increased reward sensitivity can explain tendencies to overeat. They are usually followed by attempts to restrain food intake—essentially reverse causality. It is further hypothesized that the eating of healthy whole foods while avoiding unhealthy ultra-processed foods, could benefit both the prevention and treatment of all eating and weight disorders.