Some Thoughts on StressEating RENO, NV (KUNR) - A current research finding will be no surprise to most of us: daily hassles can increase eating; especially eating snacks high in fat and sugar that are calorie dense. When you're hassled, you're upset and want to feel better. Think of hassles as events, thoughts or situations that generate negative feelings like annoyance, worry, frustration, and sometimes concern you won't be able to achieve your goals or get what you want. Eating to relieve stress doesn't have good long term outcomes because it increases obesity and all the problems that come with being overweight including cardiovascular disease; it also tends to decrease the likelihood of following a balanced diet with adequate protein, vegetables and fruits which can increase the risk of many cancers.
Since stress eating is such a bad thing, why do so many of us do it? One powerful reason is that it actually works to make you feel better. Eating a carbohydrate rich, protein poor food actually lifts mood, effects the cortisol elevations that spike with stress, and impacts brain chemistry through serotonergic mechanisms. There are strong biological reasons stress eating improves how you feel. Learning is involved in stress eating; you could have learned to eat when upset by watching what people did in your family; if they ate when distressed, then you may do so as well. And there's the learning that comes from the relief that flows into the body after eating the carbohydrate rich, protein poor foods; it's like Pavlov's dog learning to salivate to the bell because when the bell rang, it was fed. Your body learns that eating the bad snacks makes you feel better, so when you're distressed you remember what worked before and you go in search of your favorite stress food.
There are different patterns of eating. The one most at risk of stress eating is the person who eats when they're emotional. As soon as they're upset, they want to eat. Partly for the physiological relief I've explained that flows through the body, and also perhaps because they want to escape being aware of how badly they feel; the eating shifts their attention away from their crummy feelings and onto something else: which food, finding the food, eating the food. We usually think of women as being most at risk for emotional eating, but men can also have the problem.
Increased snacking on bad foods isn't good for you, so what's the answer? Since we can't do much to prevent daily hassles, they seem to be part of life, the solution lies in finding other ways to cope with being upset. Eating when you're emotional or upset is a very difficult pattern to break because it's reinforced by your body's reaction each time you grab high sugar, high fat, high carbohydrate foods. Psychologists approach emotional eating/stress eating much like treatment approaches addictions. You combine many techniques designed to change what you do to cope with stress, add delay tactics to show you can impact your behavior, toss in self awareness, increased tolerance for discomfort, and emotional support.
Create a list of things you could do other than eat when you're distressed. You need your own personal list that works for you; things that work for others include: go outside for a walk; hug your kid; play with your dog; call a friend; work out; get involved in a task that distracts you; pray to your God; talk yourself down focusing on the positive. When distressed, do something on your list instead of eat. If you're having trouble not snacking, then start by delaying how quickly you snack; wait 10 minutes and use one of your coping methods; if you still want to eat, go ahead. Gradually increase the length of time you wait to eat to an hour; hopefully, by that time, your other coping styles will have kicked in and you can forgo the snack.
Address your overall resistance to stress through good health care. Simple as it sounds, getting 8 hours of sleep a night does wonders to increasing your capacity to tolerate stress. We have to sleep to have endurance. Most people I know who stress eat, also don't get enough sleep. Eating three balanced meals a day, including breakfast keeps your blood sugars stable and makes you more patient. There's always exercise as a tolerance booster; aerobic exercise for at least 30 minutes 3 to 6 times a week enhances your brain chemistry to give you a buffer against the corticosteroids your adrenal glands dump whenever you're upset.
I know nothing feels as good or works as well as your favorite stress snack, but it's not a good solution. Daily hassles and stress are here to stay, find a better solution than chocolate.
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