Stress and food cravings
In the short term, stress can shut down appetite. For a lot of people, there’s a lack of appetite during stressful situations. Within the brain, the hypothalamus releases a hormone, which suppresses appetite. The brain also sends messages to the adrenal glands (sitting on top of the kidneys) to pump out the hormone epinephrine (you may know it as adrenaline). Epinephrine helps trigger the body's fight-or-flight response, a hyped-up physiological state that temporarily puts your appetite on do-not-disturb.
All of this is very normal. An example that comes to mind is race day morning. I’ve worked with many athletes who struggle to take even a small bite of a piece of toast in the hours before a race because of stress, nerves and anxiety. Can you relate? This is why mental skills are really important before a race to help calm the body and mind.
But if stress continues — this is where appetite changes. The adrenal glands release another hormone called cortisol (the "stress" hormone), and cortisol increases appetite. Cortisol also increases the drive to eat. Once a stressful episode is over, cortisol levels should fall. But if the stress doesn't go away, cortisol may stay elevated for a period of time.
Of course, overeating on comfort foods isn't our only stress-related behavior. When you are stressed, it’s harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. It can be hard to gather the motivation to exercise and alcohol is more likely to be used as a coping mechanism. Your mind may also race with thoughts, which makes it hard to think logically. Some research suggests a gender difference in stress-coping behavior, with women being more likely to turn to food and men to alcohol or smoking.
Food gives us feelings of power, control and pleasure – all things we crave in stressful situations. It’s no surprise that when our stress levels increase, so do our cravings for “comforting” foods. Numerous studies have shown that physical or emotional stress increases cravings for food high in fat, sugar, or both. This is why we don’t crave nutritious foods like kale and broccoli when we are stressed. It has nothing to do with willpower. Once you ingest high fat- and sugar-filled foods, the brain receives messages to inhibit stress-related emotions. Our brain is smart – it knows that if it receives certain foods, it can temporarily counteract stress. It’s like “hey, eat that cookie and you’ll feel better.” But of course, this approach doesn’t last for long.
Don't stress about stress eating
If you’ve ever overindulged, binged or overate due to stress, you are not alone. You are not a bad person if you have struggled with emotional eating. You have feelings. You are normal. I want to stress (literally) that stress eating has nothing to do with lack of willpower. It does not mean that you are weak or lazy. We have all been experiencing very unpredictable and unknown scenarios that none of us were prepared for. If you’ve gained a few pounds over the past few months or found yourself emotionally eating, beating up on yourself is not the answer. Nothing good ever comes out of the self-torture that is negative self-talk and shame.
Shame is perhaps one of the most painful and uncomfortable feelings to tolerate as it relates to food. When you feel shame, you don’t just think, “oops I ate a cookie when I should have had an apple. It’s more than “I have done something wrong;” Shame feels like “I am wrong” “I am a horrible person.” “I am not worthy.” or “I am unlovable” or even “I am broken.” To help combat these feelings and to reduce the chance of stress eating, here are a few tips:
STRESS EATING TIPS
Food gives us feelings of power, control and pleasure – all things we crave in stressful situations. It’s no surprise that when our stress levels increase, so do our cravings for “comforting” foods. Numerous studies have shown that physical or emotional stress increases cravings for food high in fat, sugar, or both. This is why we don’t crave nutritious foods like kale and broccoli when we are stressed. It has nothing to do with willpower. Once you ingest high fat- and sugar-filled foods, the brain receives messages to inhibit stress-related emotions. Our brain is smart – it knows that if it receives certain foods, it can temporarily counteract stress. It’s like “hey, eat that cookie and you’ll feel better.” But of course, this approach doesn’t last for long.
Don't stress about stress eating
If you’ve ever overindulged, binged or overate due to stress, you are not alone. You are not a bad person if you have struggled with emotional eating. You have feelings. You are normal. I want to stress (literally) that stress eating has nothing to do with lack of willpower. It does not mean that you are weak or lazy. We have all been experiencing very unpredictable and unknown scenarios that none of us were prepared for. If you’ve gained a few pounds over the past few months or found yourself emotionally eating, beating up on yourself is not the answer. Nothing good ever comes out of the self-torture that is negative self-talk and shame.
Shame is perhaps one of the most painful and uncomfortable feelings to tolerate as it relates to food. When you feel shame, you don’t just think, “oops I ate a cookie when I should have had an apple. It’s more than “I have done something wrong;” Shame feels like “I am wrong” “I am a horrible person.” “I am not worthy.” or “I am unlovable” or even “I am broken.” To help combat these feelings and to reduce the chance of stress eating, here are a few tips:
STRESS EATING TIPS
- 1...2...Pause - Before you emotionally eat, pay special attention to how you’re feeling; are you stressed, bored, lonely, or anxious? Simply pausing and evaluating the situation can help you understand what compels you to indulge and can help with your food related decisions.
- Out of sight, out of mind - Having tempting foods within eyesight can lead to frequent snacking and overeating, even when you aren’t hungry. Visual exposure to high calorie foods stimulates a part of your brain which may lead to increased cravings and overeating. This can turn into a habit - every time you are stressed, you crave a specific food or drink. It’s best to keep particularly tempting foods, like sugary baked goods, candy, chips, dips and cookies, out of sight, and if they are too tempting, out of the house. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a tasty indulgence when you’re not necessarily hungry or when you are stressed. Sometimes chocolate does solve problems. However, overindulging too often and skimping on nutritious foods in order to indulge can harm both your physical and mental health.
- Check your self before you wreck yourself - One of the most helpful ways to prevent overeating is to take a minute and check in with yourself. Determine whether you’re eating because you’re hungry and need nourishment or fuel, or whether it’s because you are stressed or anxious. In general, you should be eating every 2-3 hours. This is normal appetite fluctuations. Though it’s easy to stray from your normal dietary pattern when your schedule gets disrupted, it’s important to maintain some semblance of "normal eating." Give yourself time to eat slowly and mindfully.