While it is normal for humans to find comfort in food when stressed, too much emotional or stress eating has many adverse effects. The present article explores how to identify signs of emotional eating and curb temptation.
Understanding the Science Behind Stress Eating: Hormonal Imbalance
When you have an exceptionally challenging day at work, do you crave something cheesy or chocolatey? If the answer is yes, you are not alone.
● Research shows that stressful events release a hormone called cortisol in your body.
● Consistently high cortisol levels can increase food intake and body weight.
● Also, these hormonal imbalances trigger parts of the human brain that control reward and cognition.
● As a result, many people turn to food for comfort in times of distress.
When you eat for any reason other than hunger, it is stress or emotional eating. If you feel sad, lonely, or in any other physical or physiological distress, food can become a reward. It may help you forget the cause of pain due to the burst of happiness you get from dopamine or the “feel good” hormone while eating your favorite piece of cake!
Signs of Stress or Emotional Eating
It is imperative to know the signs of emotional eating so that you can act on them. It also helps differentiate between stress eating and other severe eating disorders that need medical attention.
Again, it is normal to eat out of boredom once in a while. However, if you are doing it frequently, it warrants scrutiny. Here are the most common signs of stress eating.
● You tend to change eating habits during stressful periods in your life.
● You reach for food even if you aren’t hungry.
● You eat to avoid facing your emotions or problems.
● You frequently use food, especially sugary junk food, as a reward for achievements.
What are the Side Effects of Stress Eating?
Emotional eating has a ton of side effects, including the following.
● Erratic food habits that are hard to let go of
● Feeling of nausea due to overeating
● Feeling guilty after the emotional crisis is over
● Excessive weight gain due to overeating
How to Stop Stress Eating?
Here are some simple yet valuable ways you can check your emotions and stop stress eating.
● Checking Emotional Triggers
If you feel depressed or anxious about something, try to talk it out with your family and friends. Further, if you are tired, take a warm shower or have a cup of refreshing tea. When you are bored, do things that you enjoy. In a nutshell, try to avoid reaching for comfort food or ordering a snack online.
● Removing Food Temptations
If you can't see that canister of cookies, it is unlikely you will eat it when your emotions are haywire! So, remove things that you find tempting from the easily accessible areas of the pantry.
● Savor Your Food Instead of Gulping It
The biggest problem with stress eating is how much you end up eating to cope with your emotions. Therefore, if you slowly savor your food instead of gulping it down, it will last you longer, make you feel full faster, and prevent digestive issues.
Summing Up
When it comes to choosing food as a reward, moderation is the key to a healthy life. However, COVID-19 and the long periods of social isolation that come with it are not making life any easier. So, if you find yourself stress eating to cope with emotional situations, try these simple techniques to resist your cravings.
