Nutrition Nugget: Clutter Transcript

[00:00:00] Jenn Trepeck: Welcome to Salad with a side of Fries. I'm your host, Jen Tpic, talking wellness and weight loss for real life. We're here to clear up the myths, misinformation, bad science and marketing to teach you how to eat and how to cheat. Are you ready? I'm having salad with a side of Friess This week we're talking about clutter.

[00:00:26] I hear you. You're like, what does clutter have to do with my health other than maybe creating a tripping hazard? So first of all, you are spot on. A thousand percent clutter could absolutely impact our physical health if we trip over junk. Even very important junk if we trip over it. Right. Even things that are not junk.

[00:00:46] I hear you. And I also wanna say there is more to it. Research shows us that there are a multitude of health impacts. From clutter. Now, before we jump into that [00:01:00] research, I think it's worth considering what qualifies as clutter. And I believe that this is a personal definition. I mean, some experts might say this is the true definition of clutter or whatever, but I think of it more like a spectrum.

[00:01:15] For some people, they may have a lot of tchotchkes in proper places, and to them that's not clutter. And to someone else, they would see all the toch keys on a shelf and go, oh, that would drive me nuts. Right. So as we go through the rest of this information, consider what qualifies to you as clutter. And it's possible that maybe you didn't even realize your home or your desk or your space, whatever it is.

[00:01:45] Maybe you didn't even realize it cluttered. And yet when we talk about these impacts. We're about to talk about, maybe now we're starting to recognize that it actually is cluttered and we potentially wanna address our [00:02:00] own definition here, right? So, alright, with that groundwork, clutter can negatively impact both our physical and our mental health.

[00:02:10] So I wanna start with the brain. Research shows that your physical environment shapes our cognition, our emotions, and our behavior. So a study from the Journal of Neuroscience showed disorganization can have a cumulative effect on the brain, and it seems to connect to the visual field the more that's there.

[00:02:30] The harder it is to focus, the more brain power is required to focus, and this extra energy requirement depletes our cognitive resources, meaning we can end up less productive. Then the decreased productivity may have us looking or turning to coping mechanisms or avoidance strategies, and that could be anything from food and snacking to watching TV to a whole host of things.

[00:02:59] There's also [00:03:00] impact on our working memory. So when there's more in our visual field, we're challenged, right? We have decreased working memory 'cause there's more in there for all my friends with A DHD, or if you feel like you have symptoms of A DHD clutter likely exacerbates your daily experiences. Now in 2011, FMRI, so functional MRI scans included among other measurement, showed that clearing clutter improved focus, ability to process information and increased productivity.

[00:03:34] Now I wanna go back to the coping mechanisms, 'cause I mentioned coping mechanism of overwhelm being potentially snacking. So this begs the question, can clutter impact weight management efforts? And the answer is yes. A variety of ways, not just the snacking piece, but quite a bit of research connects clutter and suboptimal habits around food choices.

[00:03:58] So. [00:04:00] A study from 2013 showed those in a messy room were twice as likely to eat chocolate. I think it was a chocolate bar as opposed to an apple. Another study from 2016. The study was called Clutter, chaos, and Overconsumption, the role of mindset in stressful and chaotic food environments. And they concluded those in messy disorganized environments ate twice as many cookies compared to participants in an organized kitchen environment.

[00:04:27] Another study looked at hoarders and eating pathology and found that hoarders, the people with extremely cluttered homes were 77% more likely to be overweight. And there's evidence on the other side of the equation too, that those in tidier homes tend to be more active, have better physical health markers.

[00:04:48] Let's talk about sleep, because if you sleep in a cluttered room. Your eyes being closed doesn't seem to matter. So sleeping in a cluttered room may increase the likelihood of difficulty [00:05:00] sleeping, so difficulty falling asleep and or difficulty staying asleep. So apparently people who have a hoarding disorder, you know, a diagnosis also seem to be more likely to have insomnia.

[00:05:15] Now, another piece of this equation is stress. Obviously we talk about stress all the time. You know, it's stressful when you can't find the things you're looking for. Challenges with focus and productivity can be stressful, and stress can also challenge our capacity to focus and be productive. And we talk about stress all the time.

[00:05:34] We know that stress impacts our physical and our mental health. Research shows cortisol levels are higher and those whose home environments are cluttered. Again, we know from our other episodes when cortisol is high, when we are in fight or flight, that can have a snowball effect on our physical health.

[00:05:53] Connecting not just to that weight management piece with elevated cortisol, but it can also, the [00:06:00] elevated cortisol can inhibit our higher order thinking, right? Thinking from the front of the brain limit. Our capacity to make quality decisions can impact our immune system, our blood sugar balance, which then leads to metabolic health implications and cardiovascular health implications.

[00:06:17] And when we think about our mental health, we know, sure. Stress plays into things there too. Interesting. As if our usual stress isn't enough. Clutter can even impact our relationships. So there was a study from 2016. That said background clutter impacted the ability to read people's faces. So specifically in the study, they had people like clocking the emotional expressions on the faces of characters in a movie and in the cluttered environment that participants were less able to correctly interpret the emotional expressions.

[00:06:56] Now, further on that front, research also found that [00:07:00] piles of stuff. Might make us less satisfied with our lives, and I'm not totally sure of the mechanism or the connection here, but I think it's important to highlight that this is a critical piece of longevity. Life satisfaction is critical for longevity and there's certainly if clutter is keeping you isolated or you don't invite people into your space because of the clutter.

[00:07:27] We are jeopardizing human connection and that again, is a crucial piece of quality of life and longevity. Now, of course. We're all about nuance here at Salad with a side of fries, and sure you'll find a study or two that connect messy workspaces to increased creativity, right? This, to me, is another know thyself situation, and I do believe that this doesn't mean that you have to now, Marie Kondo your entire life.

[00:07:58] I do think though, [00:08:00] it means that there are potentially forces you didn't even realize. Making all of your other health efforts feel like climbing Mount Everest naked and barefoot. You know, you can go back to our episode with Deanna Gates. It was called Get Your House in Order, featuring Deanna Gates.

[00:08:18] This was episode 180 6 from February of 2023, and she offered us a whole host of ideas and action steps that we can take to start to declutter. I will say too, if clutter feels insurmountable. Reach out to the hoarders hotline. It's 1-800-HOARDERS 1 804 6 2 7 3 3 7. That's obviously in the US For all of our international listeners, Google, there are hotlines and resources available to you.

[00:08:50] I think the bottom line here. Is that clutter is more than a tripping hazard or maybe a nuisance, right? For your allergies if the clutter is collecting [00:09:00] dust. You know, the clutter around can impact our physical health, our mental health in a variety of ways. Our longevity as we saw, and I think those things make it worth dedicating some time to tidying up or being willing to toss or donate the things you truly no longer need.

[00:09:21] So there you have it, friends, the scoop on clutter and your health. As always, everybody, I'm your host, gen Tpic. Connect with me on Instagram or all social media. I'm at Gen Tpic, J-E-N-N-T-R-E-P-E-C-K. Website is a salad with a side of fries.com. Pick your platform, send message. I truly love hearing from you.

[00:09:40] It is the highlight of my day, whether you're sharing, you know, an intelligent argument, key takeaways, ideas, questions, all of it. I love it. So send a message. Dr. Sam Pierce, one more time. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate you so much. My pleasure, Jen. You're amazing. This was awesome. Well, the feeling is mutual.

[00:09:59] And friends, if [00:10:00] you are not already become a member of the Happy Healthy Hub, you'll go to a salad with a side of fries.com/membership. This shows your support for this podcast, this community, and most importantly, your health. You'll get this week's recipe for the no Cook Zucchini Noodles with pesto. Well friends, that's it for today's episode of Salad with a Side of Fries. Congratulations for making yourself and your health a priority. Thanks so much for joining us. Be sure to click subscribe or follow on your favorite podcast platform. Share us with a friend and we'll be back next week.

[00:10:41] Always remember you deserve it and you are worth it. Happy, healthy.