Emotional eating

People who indulge in emotional eating usually try to soothe their emotions with food. Emotional eaters tend to connect every feeling with food. This habit of suppressing or replacing feelings has opposite effects on happiness and overall health in the long run. Before understanding the signs and symptoms, it is necessary to differentiate true hunger from emotional eating.

True Hunger

The signs of true hunger are as follows:

• It builds slowly.
• It develops as a result of an empty stomach.
• It can be satisfied by any food.

Emotional Eating

The signs of emotional eating are opposite to those of true hunger. It includes:

• Immediate hunger with a feeling of urgency to eat food.
• Hunger is often triggered by a specific event or mood.
• Hunger is also satisfied by a specific type of food.

Signs and Symptoms of Emotional Eating

The signs and symptoms of emotional eating can be summarized as:

• Feeling an urgency to eat food or snacks.
• Abrupt feeling of hunger.
• Craving for specific comfort foods.
• Eating at unusual times.
• Eating more frequently.
• Eating despite feeling full.
• Feeling of guilt after eating.
• Hiding empty containers of food.
• Eating while feeling stressed, sad, annoyed, disappointed, angry, lonely, anxious, tired, or bored.

The exact cause behind eating in stressful situations is not completely understood. However, several theories have been proposed. Studies suggest that a hormone called cortisol (the stress hormone) often increases during times of physical and psychological stress. This disruption of cortisol levels results in cravings for so-called comfort foods. Individuals exposed to chronic stress are at high risk of developing emotional eating.

Did you know?

• Emotional eating was originally thought to be triggered by negative emotions such as anger, sadness, and anxiety.
• Newer research has shown that a positive mood can also increase food intake.

Risk Factors For Emotional Eating

There are various factors that are known to affect eating from childhood to adulthood. Emotions, the environment in which the child is growing, medical conditions, and stringent dieting play a key role.

The risk factors involved in emotional eating are:

• Gender: Females are more prone to emotional eating due to hormonal fluctuations.
• Obesity/Being Overweight: Individuals who are either overweight or suffering from obesity are more prone to emotional eating.
• Adolescence: The chances of emotional eating increase during adolescence, due to estrogen activation at puberty.
• Genetics: Some individuals possess risk genes that increase sensitivity to the environment, predisposing them to emotional eating.
• Emotional Fluctuations: Common situations associated with emotional eating include:
  • Anger
  • Boredom
  • Change
  • Confusion
  • Frustration
  • Loneliness
  • Loss
  • Resentment
  • Stress
  Individuals with depressive feelings often have lower levels of serotonin, the "happy hormone," which is associated with an increase in appetite, triggering emotional eating.
• Diet Control: Stress or negative emotions can impact self-control regarding dieting, leading to higher food intake when under stress due to a loss of the feeling of hunger and satiety.
• Inappropriate Parenting Practices: Neglectful, overly protective, manipulative, or hostile behavior from parents can affect a child's psychological and emotional health, leading to:
  • Poor interoceptive awareness of feelings like hunger and satiety
  • Difficulty in identifying and describing feelings
  • Difficulties with adequate regulation of emotions
  These factors are associated with self-reported emotional eating.
• Emotional Trauma: Individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, adulthood trauma, and childhood emotional abuse are more likely to engage in emotional eating.
• Adverse Experiences: Those exposed to adverse experiences early in life are more likely to become emotional eaters later on. Studies have also found that mothers of chronically ill children experience emotional eating due to long-term stress.
• Avoiding Stress: Individuals who attempt to avoid stress through distraction are also prone to emotional eating.
• Lack of Sleep: Insufficient sleep is directly linked to emotional eating.

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Diagnosis of Emotional Eating

There is no technique or lab test that can confirm this condition due to its behavioral nature. It is diagnosed through the examination of symptoms via a set of questions.

Self-reported Questionnaires

These involve a series of questions that are similar in design, related to the desire or frequency of food intake in response to emotions.

Film Clips

In this technique, individuals are instructed to watch a film to induce emotions, especially sadness. The amount and pattern of food intake are recorded.

Memory Recall

During memory recall, participants are asked to recall personally relevant emotional events. This can also be done using personally chosen mood-inducing music. Emotional eaters tend to consume more food after recalling personal emotional events.

Social Stress Task

This involves inducing stress by informing individuals that they will have to give a speech to an audience while being judged and videotaped. Studies suggest that emotional eaters tend to consume more sweet high-fat foods under these conditions.

Natural Method (Recording in the Diary)

This method involves analyzing eating patterns in a more natural environment. Individuals are asked to fill out a diary, noting the following points:

• Daily hassles (situations that produce negative feelings)
• Mood states
• Frequency of food intake
• Type of food consumed
• Food cravings, if any

Newer Methods

There are several limitations to self-reported emotional eating based on questionnaires due to conscious responses regarding the relationship between mood and eating. To address this, newer methods have been developed:

• Single Target Implicit Association Test (ST-IAT): This indirect approach assesses emotional eating by having individuals evaluate a particular object on a computer screen. The target object can be food or something else. Emotional eaters tend to identify food-related items faster than non-emotional eaters.
• Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMA): These involve repeatedly sampling a participant's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in real-time, helping to analyze the co-occurrence of specific feelings and food intake.

Occasional overeating, such as having an extra plate of your favorite dish at a restaurant, can be a normal tendency for most people. However, where is the line drawn between overeating and binge eating? Find out.

Emotional eating is preventable. The following measures might help in preventing the same:

• Seek support in times of emotional need: Emotional eating can be prevented by seeking support during tough times. Withdrawing from others in times of emotional need increases the chances of mindless eating.
• Practice stress-relieving activities: The majority of individuals indulge in emotional eating by focusing only on eating as an option to feel good. Engaging in stress-relieving activities such as exercise, meditation, and journaling helps to refrain from emotional eating.
• Avoid negative self-talk: Negative self-talk during times of stress further lowers self-esteem, serving as an intense trigger to eat. It also makes it difficult to differentiate between physical hunger and emotional hunger.
• Avoid food as a reward: It is crucial to model healthy eating habits in children. Parents should avoid using food to celebrate occasions or to reward their children, as this can trigger emotional eating later on. Instead, use verbal praise and offer other types of rewards such as stickers, fun activities, or swings.
• Ensure adequate sleep: An inadequate amount of sleep contributes to emotional eating. Too little sleep makes individuals more prone to obesity as a result of overeating.

How much sleep does an individual need?

• Infant (4-12 months): 12-16 hours per 24 hours (including naps)
• Toddler (1-2 years): 11-14 hours per 24 hours (including naps)
• Pre-school (3-5 years): 10-13 hours per 24 hours (including naps)
• School (6-12 years): 9-12 hours per 24 hours
• Teen (13-18 years): 8-10 hours per 24 hours
• Adult (18-60 years): 7 or more hours per night

Reduce sedentary time: Lack of physical activity increases the risk of emotional eating. Engaging in physical activity and exercise helps prevent emotional eating. Involvement in daily household chores also aids in avoiding unnecessary eating.

Planning to walk 10,000 steps a day? Read this.

The treatment approach for emotional eating includes controlling emotions and addressing any underlying mental health issues, such as depression. The main aim of the treatment is to achieve healthy eating habits.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is the first-line therapy for emotional eating, where individuals are taught to eat healthily and reduce binge episodes. It includes three major types:

1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT is a talking therapy that helps manage problems by changing thought patterns. It aids individuals in coping better with factors that trigger eating episodes and improves their sense of control over behavior.
2. Interpersonal Psychotherapy: This therapy aims to relieve symptoms by improving interpersonal relationships. It focuses on solving current problems rather than childhood traumas. Focus areas include:
   • Conflicts in relationships
   • Major life changes such as job loss, birth of a child, and loss of a loved one
   • Difficulties in initiating or maintaining relationships

   It involves several sessions with psychotherapists, and individuals often acquire effective strategies that may improve their symptoms.

3. Dialectical Behavioral Psychotherapy: This involves weekly individual sessions (1 hour), a weekly group skills training session (1.5 - 2.5 hours), and a therapy consultation team meeting (1-2 hours). The sessions aim at:
   1. Enhancing Skills: The following skills are taught:
      • Regulating emotions
      • Mindfulness (paying attention to the present moment)
      • Improving interpersonal communication
      • Surviving crises without worsening situations

      This therapy is also found to be an effective intervention for reducing body weight.

   2. Applying Skills: Individuals are provided with assignments to practice skills. Therapists assist patients in applying new skills in their daily lives.
   3. Improving Motivation and Reducing Dysfunctional Behaviors: This aims to keep patients motivated, helping them maintain behavioral consistency.

Medications

Medications are considered less effective than psychotherapy. Some medications used in severe cases of emotional eating include:

• Lisdexamfetamine Dimesylate
• Topiramate
• Antidepressants (fluoxetine and sertraline)

Treatment of Obesity

Emotional eating often leads to obesity. The treatment of obesity should be individualized, as the reasons for overeating vary for each person. Along with diet management, it is essential to identify and manage the emotions behind eating.

Most emotional eating starts in our own kitchen. The following tips are beneficial in reducing eating episodes while improving food quality.

• Junk Food - Out of Sight, Out of Mind: During episodes of emotional eating, many people tend to gravitate towards packaged junk food items such as cookies, chips, and cakes. By not purchasing and hoarding these items in the kitchen, half the battle against emotional eating is won.
• Nutritional Planning: Effective management of emotional eating requires conscious eating, which involves understanding calorie intake and dietary needs. Keep a record of your food consumption. A well-balanced nutritional plan helps overcome impulsive binge eating and purging. It is crucial to make informed food choices and develop sound eating habits.
• Emotional Self-Care: Low self-esteem is a significant risk factor for emotional eating. Self-care includes reminding yourself that you are a good person, engaging in activities you enjoy, and reflecting on your moments of success. This practice can aid in managing mood swings and depression. Cultivating happiness and health starts with small, everyday habits, and trying some of these can make a substantial difference in your life.

Excessive eating due to negative emotions can lead to overweight and obesity. Obesity is a risk factor for many conditions, including:

• Tiredness
• Type 2 diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Heart diseases
• Stroke
• Sleep apnea
• Fatty liver disease
• Gallbladder diseases
• Joint pain
• Back pain
• Osteoarthritis
• Dementia
• Infertility
• Certain cancers (breast, colon, and endometrial)

The following options are easy and help in controlling stress, which serves as a major trigger for emotional eating:

• Yoga: Individuals often experience a lack of physical and mental control over their actions and thoughts regarding self-image. Yoga is an excellent tool for relieving mental stress and controlling behavioral symptoms. It helps individuals understand their bodies and needs, along with the following benefits:
  • Builds confidence
  • Adopts a flexible mindset
  • Deviates the mind from eating
  • Focuses the mind on the present
  • Builds a healthy relationship with food
  Yoga emphasizes the holistic improvement of the mind, body, and soul. Here are some of the health benefits of yoga! Click to read
• Meditation: It aids in calming the mind and focusing on the inner self. Meditation has been shown to improve self-image and reduce impulsive behaviors such as emotional eating. Click here to read more about the amazing benefits of meditation.
• Self-massage: Rubbing your own neck, scalp, and the skin behind the ear is a wonderful method to feel relaxed. It allows individuals to feel pampered and reduces negative thoughts. Practicing this after a stressful day is associated with a lower likelihood of emotional eating.

Emotional eating impacts the body both emotionally and physically. The extra calories taken as a medium to soothe the mood lead to weight gain. Individuals may feel better for a short period after eating, but it has a long-term negative impact on overall health.

The following measures can help individuals tackle the situation wisely:

• Observe your eating patterns: Emotional eaters often eat mindlessly without paying attention to triggers. Consider the following questions to identify your conditions:
• Do you eat when you feel angry, depressed, hurt, or otherwise upset?
• Do you eat in response to certain people or situations?
• Do certain places or times of day trigger food cravings?
• Write your emotions: Writing serves as a tool for healing emotions. Some individuals find it hard to share their feelings due to fear of judgment. In such cases, write about the things you care deeply about and why they matter to you.
• Develop healthy responses: Individuals should develop healthy responses to emotions instead of eating mindlessly. During emotional distress, consider the following:
• Talk with a friend, family member, doctor, or counselor about the emotions that trigger your eating.
• Take a walk when feeling stressed.
• Read a book.
• Take a class to manage stress.
• Brainstorm other ways to cope with emotions, such as sports, painting, or writing.
• Communicate with children: Parents should talk to their children if they observe signs of emotional eating in them.
• Eat slowly: The habit of eating slowly helps individuals pay attention to the amount of food they consume. Consider these habits:
• Put down your fork and spoon between bites.
• Take a moment to taste the food before swallowing.
• Avoid distractions such as TV, computers, or conversations while eating.
• Avoid staying hungry: Prolonged hunger increases the chances of emotional eating. Stress combined with hunger makes junk food more tempting. This can be avoided by keeping healthier snacks on hand and consuming them between meals.
• Plan meals beforehand: Prepare healthy meals in advance. Chop vegetables for salad or make a pot of broth-based soup ahead of time for hassle-free, filling meals.
• Stock the kitchen with healthy snacks: Keeping healthy snacks in the kitchen minimizes the chances of consuming junk food during emotional breakdowns.
• Seek help from professionals: In some cases, emotional eating cannot be addressed alone. It becomes difficult to avoid food in the presence of triggers such as stress. Therefore, it is important to seek help from medical professionals.