How does eating food work if your character has Below Average Temperament?

I'm a few hours into Outer Worlds and I'm loving the game, but I might have messed up some game mechanics with my first build.

I built a character with Below Average Temperament. This means I have NO passive health regeneration. When ever I eat food (pre-sliced bred, mock apple, etc.) my health does not regenerate. Am I missing something here or did I make all food useless by building a character without health regeneration? The inhaler charged with Adreno still heals my character.