Conceptual framework for nutritional psychology as a new field of research

Conceptual framework for nutritional psychology as a new field of research

Nutritional psychology as a new field of research : Many recent discoveries highlight the existence of a robust bidirectional link between nutrition and psychological processes. Despite these developments, the systematic and formalized study of this connection is only beginning to be undertaken, and nutritional psychology is not yet considered a formal area of study within the psychological sciences. This paper defines the scope of nutritional psychology through 6 core areas of conceptualization, each informed by an interdisciplinary and growing body of evidence spanning the psychological and nutritional sciences. These include the diet-conative/affective, diet-cognitive, diet-sensory/perception, diet-interoceptive, diet-psychosocial, and diet-environmental relationships. Introducing these conceptualizations contributes to the development of innovative interdisciplinary language, method, and conceptualization of the diet-mental health relationship within nutritional psychology. [NPID: Nutritional psychology, diet-mental health, nutrition, psychology, conceptual framework]

Year: 2025

Reference: Stroebele-Benschop, N., Hedrih, V., Behairy, S., Pervaiz, N., & Morphew-Lu, E. (2025). Conceptual Framework for Nutritional Psychology as a New Field of Research. Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 15(8), 1007. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15081007

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