Emotional overeating: what is it and how to deal with it?

We need food to live, but some people make a habit out of eating or simply "eat away" their emotions. Sometimes it's very addictive and a person no longer notices how he fights anxiety, sadness or boredom by eating, sometimes without even noticing the taste of what he's chewing.

Such attacks of gluttony are called emotional overeating and are a way to deal with stress, anxiety or any other mental state of a person. It is not so easy to get out of this trap, because food becomes a kind of pill for a person, which dulls the negative emotions that he experiences.

Read also: Ways to regulate appetite

Why do people become emotional eaters and what are the risks? Ilive suggests finding out together.

Fear of not being satisfied

Some emotional eaters have almost a phobia that makes them consume food, a phobia that there is little food and while there is, they need to take advantage of it. No, these people have not gone through a hunger strike and are not drying crackers under their mattresses. They simply cannot control their appetite and satiety.

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Psychological pressure

Many emotional eaters unknowingly protect themselves with food from people who are psychologically stronger. The thing is that emotional hunger - unlike physical hunger, which comes on gradually - comes suddenly. This happens if a person experiences strong emotions that are difficult for him to cope with. And these emotional outbursts are not necessarily negative - a person can feel joy and fun and at the same time he can really want something specific - pizza, chocolate, ice cream or chips.

Unconscious overeating

This type of overeating is permanent. A person can eat always and everywhere, but not realize the scale of his problem. He does not understand how much food he eats per day. In this case, combining such snacks and other types of activity is dangerous.

Children's tears

Childhood memories may retain an image of how a mother calmed a child's crying and hysterics with candy or something sweet. This image could well have become ingrained in the subconscious as an adult: grief, stress - tears - food.

Emotional overeating turns a person into a slave, dependent on food. It is like a drug that gives him the opportunity to escape from reality and, like a faithful ally, helps to cope with emotions. However, emotional overeating can and should be fought.

• First, you need to learn to distinguish between physical and emotional hunger. The latter comes to a person even after he has recently eaten.
• If you want certain foods, such as chocolate, cookies or something salty, this is emotional hunger, not physical hunger. If a person is truly hungry, he will eat the food that is served and will not wait for delicacies.
• If a person eats in order to “kill” his emotions, then he will not stop even when he is completely full, so it is very important to feel the line and stop in time.
• Stress provokes the secretion of the hormone cortisol in the blood, and this process is accompanied by a need for sweet or salty foods.