It is something that
all of us have heard of, yet unfortunately there is no universal
definition on emotional eating. Some people define emotional eating as a
process of eating specific foods that can make them feel a lot better.
Some people eat emotionally when they are anxious or sad. Others eat
when they’re emotionally overwhelmed. For many people, the triggers to
emotional eating are boredom, loneliness, distress and anger. Whatever
the reason it may be, the final statement is always the same – food make
me feel much better!
The only reason why food can make us feel
better is because the brain is conditioned to give that specific
response. In the presence of triggers, brain tells you to eat and after
you eat certain type of food at a specific amount, it rewards you with
satisfaction. Any food can stimulate satisfaction, although some foods
are likely to be "more rewarding". Because these foods provide more
reinforcement, you tend to seek out for more. Unfortunately, highly
rewarding foods are not healthy, as they are high in fat and sugar.
We Are All Emotional Eaters
Everyone
is an emotional eater. When we eat, certain substances are released,
which gives us comfort and satisfaction at some degree. The emotional
reward of eating was important for our ancestors’ survival. It triggered
a mechanism that urged them to seek food. Almost everyone, even people
with healthy emotional condition have stuffed themselves until almost
sick. The driving force behind this behavior is our emotion, which make
us emotional eaters. Even if we’re not hungry, the brain may continue to
provide reward, which urges us to keep on eating.
Unfortunately,
some people tend to relate eating habits with certain behaviors.
Essentially, they create scripts that are imprinted in their
unconsciousness mind and these behaviors become so habitual that they
respond automatically before the conscious stimulus intervenes. This is
known as "conditioned learning", which means that you train your brain
to react in a specific manner under certain circumstances. If you eat
abnormally when you are sad, angry and distressed then you have a
learned behavior. Our brain makes association by linking emotional,
motor and cognitive aspects together into a single entity. Each time a
single sequence of event occurs and the eating response is triggered,
your brain learns to strengthen the connection.
Eliminating Emotional Eating
Your
first step should be to identify the likely triggers and build
awareness about your condition. It would be helpful to write down
possible cause-effect relationships related to your condition. For
example "When A happens, I feel B then I want to eat C to make me feel
D". You may not be able prevent A from happening, but at least you
should try to eliminate the B feeling. If both are not possible,
substitute C with E – a healthier option, so you can still have the D
feeling. Breaking a habit is always difficult, so you may feel reluctant
to do this at first. These are a few things you should do to deal with
emotional eating:
• Try to replace food. You should de-emphasize
food in your life and look for other things that can give you
satisfaction. Try to reconnect with yourself and find out things that
you like most, other than eating. You may find satisfaction in watching
movies, exercising, writing or simply, listening to music. If you can
find some amount of satisfaction from these activities, look for ways to
intensify it. If possible, make it bigger than the satisfaction you get
from food. Make sure that your new source of satisfaction can give you
benefits, as switching emotional eating with alcohol or tobacco is not
exactly a good solution.
• Throw away bad food. We eat poorly
because we are surrounded by bad foods. Purge your home from unhealthy
foods and fill your refrigerator with tasty fruits and vegetables. When
cooked well, lean meat and vegetables can actually taste better than
fast foods. Emotional eating can also be minimized with snacks, so make
sure you have healthy snack nearby, such as nuts and small-sized fruits,
like grapes.
• Make sure you eat well. Your breakfast, lunch
and dinner should be satisfactory, which mean they are both filling and
healthy. Balanced diet can keep you full for a longer period of time, so
it would be easier to separate emotional hunger from real hunger.
Satisfactory home-cooked meal can often prevent you from eating out.
This habit tends to be unhealthy and can damage your health.
•
To help you deal with anxiety and stressors, it is advisable to use
natural flower essences. A couple of drops in a glass of water can help
you to relax and feel calm. Emotional eating is often triggered by
anxiety and flower essence remedy can help you to fend off nervousness.
These products are completely safe; you can take each separately or
combine them. Each flower has its own benefits and properties, so you
may need to take each separately and space them an hour apart.
•
Cravings on fried food, salty foods or sweet foods may actually caused
by certain nutritional deficiencies. Gymnema Sylvestre, Chromium and
Calcium carbonate may be able to reduce your craving and keep your
balance. You can purchase these ingredients separately and take them
twice a day. It is suggested that you eat moderately after taking them
as they can help to lower your blood sugar.
• Taking
multivitamin supplements can help you reduce cravings. Women who have
period may crave for very salty or sweet foods about one week before the
cycle. Cravings may occur because you lack certain vitamins and
minerals as well as low in serotonin. Evening Primrose Oil can help to
neutralize cravings.
• Take digestive enzymes, these enzymes can
help to speed up the nutrient absorption and make you feel more
satisfied and fuller.
• The next time you crave for fast food,
try to divert your craving to salmon and turkey. Both contain plenty of
tryptophan, which can make you relaxed and happy.
• You should
avoid artificial sweeteners, such as Nutrasweet and Equal, as people
with phenol allergy can feel depressed after consuming them.
•
If you drink coffee regularly, you’re more likely to eat emotionally.
Caffeine actually can suppress your appetite, but unfortunately when it
wears off the hunger rage can make you eat ravenously. Many caffeine
addicts tend to binge at night. To get yourself off the appetite roller
coaster, you should gradually switch to decaf. It’s a good idea to take
selenium supplement to decrease anxiety and elevate good mood.
•
Writing a diary each day can help you analyze yourself. You can read
your previous entries and determine dominant feelings that trigger
emotional eating. It also helps you to monitor your progress and
achievements.
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