What is Emotional Eating
by Dr Jacques Lubbe PhD
This is just a short introduction to a very common problem. To solve a problem one must firtsly identify it.
Emotional eating is when someone eats in response to emotional feelings in stead of a hunger response or for nutritional nourishment. There can be different reasons for this. It is usually related to one’s natural strategy to cope with stress. For example a twin sister can get engaged and married leaving the other twin feeling lonely and insignificant; she will then use some or other strategy to cope with this added stress in her life. She can go out making new friends, actively looking for a partner or starting a new hobby. Sometimes she may start binge eating to distract her from being lonely. Sometimes eating can also give a rewarding feeling which will also help her to cope with the added stress of being lonely.
Identifying her eating cues and changing her responses to these cues is very important if she want to control her emotional eating. For emotional eaters eating alleviates negative emotions. Eating can also help to escape or divert the attention away from an ego threatening situation that can cause aversive self awareness. It is a way to escape this aversive awareness by focusing the attention to external stimulations. Emotional eaters’ coping strategies or mechanisms fail them and they overeat because it is thought to temporarily provide comfort and distraction from these aversive emotions.
The three basic stress coping strategies:
Emotional-oriented coping: When actions are directed at changing emotional responses to stress including attempts to reframe a problem to elicit a less stressful reaction.
Task-oriented coping: When direct action is taken to alter the situation to reduce the amount of stress the situation evokes.
Avoidance-oriented coping: Where stressful situations are avoided or the existence of a stressful situation is denied or even by losing hope.
Who is at risk?
Women are especially prone to emotional eating -- and then feel guiltier and less healthy than men do after snacking on "forbidden" foods. Under normal circumstances physiological responses to negative emotions and stress mimic internal sensations associated with eating induced fullness or satiety. Loss of appetite and reduced food intake are associated with negative emotions. An increase in food intake is actually an inappropriate reaction to negative emotions and stress. Emotional eating is contributed to individual characteristics and is an exception to the norm.
How Can Loozemor Appetite Help You?
After identifying your own personal eating cues you will have to change your way of dealing with the stress that caused it. This however may be a long and difficult task. During this process Loozemor appetite will help you by reducing that initial urge to snack or binge. Loozemor will be a supportive measure to help you through this process.
References and links:
SPOOR, T.P., BEKKER, M.H.J., VAN STRIEN, T., HECK, G.L. 2007 Relations between negative affect, coping, and emotional eating. Appetite v48: 368-376p.
Tips to stop Emotional Eating:
More about coping strategies:
More info regarding about emotional eating: