Shut up! Do you want to eat when you are unhappy? Be careful not to "eat to relieve your sorrow, but make you more sorrowful"

When you encounter something upsetting, what do you usually do to change your mood? Are there times when you are not hungry but you just want to eat something, as if all your worries disappear at the moment of eating? Some people even habitually start to indulge in eating and drinking when they encounter something upsetting, and they can't stop.

At this time, we must be wary of "emotional eating". At this time, food is no longer a way to solve physical hunger, but a tool to make up for emotional needs.

Does eating to relieve your sorrow really work?

When many people encounter work pressure, emotional frustration or loneliness, the easiest way to vent is to eat, as if only food can make them feel at ease and happy during the depressing days. This is mainly related to the following reasons:

01 Active parasympathetic nervous system

Research in brain neuroscience shows that when we face stress, the brain's "sympathetic nervous system" is activated, and our whole body and mind enter an "excitement mode": our heart rate increases, our metabolism increases, and our muscle work capacity increases.

The stimulation of "eating" will activate another "parasympathetic nervous system" of the brain, forcing us to switch from "combat mode" to "cultivation mode", and people will feel more comfortable.

02 Dopamine brings pleasure

Delicious food can activate the midbrain-limbic dopamine nervous system that regulates emotions, promote the release of dopamine, and make people feel pleasure.

03 Increased blood sugar brings satisfaction

When the human body's blood sugar level is relatively high, the mood is more stable and cheerful; when the blood sugar level is low, it is more likely to become irritable, angry, and depressed.

But eating to relieve your sorrow may feel good for a while, but it won’t last forever. On the one hand, the stimulation of emotional eating can’t last long, and on the other hand, continuous emotional eating will slowly turn into a kind of “punishment”, bringing certain negative consequences to our body and mind.

Chronic emotional eating

Let the body "disintegrate"

Many times, emotional eating is often accompanied by a certain degree of "revenge eating", where one wants to eat even when not hungry, or even when full. Some people may even eat to the point of vomiting, which can cause great harm to the body.

01 From a physiological perspective, getting fat will damage your stomach and intestines

Studies have found that people tend to eat healthy food when they are in a positive mood, while negative emotions encourage the tendency to eat "junk food", such as fried food, desserts, spicy snacks, soda, alcohol, etc. These foods generally have three characteristics - high in oil, high in sugar, and irritating.

If you eat such food for a long time, the calories will exceed the standard, and if they cannot be consumed, they will turn into fat and accumulate in the body. Chronic diseases such as obesity, hyperlipidemia, and fatty liver are not far away.

02 From a psychological perspective, falling into a cycle of negative emotions

Every time we finish eating those high-sugar and high-fat foods, we realize that we have consumed too many calories, and a new anxiety about weight and health will arise.

This anxiety, coupled with the original bad mood, will make people have a stronger desire to overeat, and we often fall into a vicious cycle of "eating to relieve worries, which only makes us more worried."

Are you suffering from emotional eating?

Are you really hungry or are you just eating because of your emotions? Here is a simple self-test:

① Feeling hungry suddenly, rather than becoming hungry gradually over time.

② Craving certain specific foods, usually high in sugar and calories, rather than just wanting to feel full.

③ Often eat unconsciously, without realizing that you have eaten a lot.

④ Even if you are full or overfed, you don’t feel satisfied and can’t stop eating.

⑤ Feeling regretful and guilty after overeating.

If you meet the above points, then it is basically emotional eating.

4 steps to stop emotional eating

01 Regulate emotions and release stress

When you feel depressed, unwilling to see people, anxious, nervous, or other negative emotions, you must learn to self-regulate.

① Try the "Butterfly Hug"

This is a technique in psychotherapy that can help us relieve stress and relax ourselves.

[Operation method]: Place your feet firmly on the floor, close your eyes, take a few slow and natural breaths, cross your arms in front of your chest, and pat yourself with your left and right hands alternately. Do this 4 to 12 times.

② Listen to music

When people listen to light music, their levels of dopamine, which makes them happy, can increase by 9%.

③ Communication

Chatting with your friends, relatives, etc. and talking and communicating with the right people at the right time is one of the best ways to relieve emotions.

④ Shout

Go to a place where you won't be disturbed or bother others and shout out your depressed mood.

02 Put aside distractions and focus on tasting the food

Focus on the food you eat, and consciously feel what you are eating, how much you are eating, whether you are full, and whether it tastes good.

Moreover, only by chewing carefully and slowing down the eating speed can the body receive the fullness signal from the stomach in time and prevent physical discomfort caused by overeating.

03 Reduce your chances of overeating

① Ensure three meals a day and don’t let yourself be too hungry or too full.

② Make sure there is little or no junk food within your reach. In many cases, you won’t eat it if you don’t buy it.

04 Adjust your lifestyle and stay in good shape

① Exercising every day is good for your physical and mental health. Studies have found that 35 minutes of exercise a day can reduce the risk of depression by 17%.

② Go to bed early and get up early, don’t stay up late. Lack of sleep will increase the level of stress hormone cortisol, making it more difficult for people to cope with stress.

Only by developing good living habits and regular work and rest schedules can we ensure that the body is in a normal rhythm and normal endocrine state, and improve various body functions, including the ability to cope with stress.

Reviewer of this article: Chen Haixu, Deputy Director and Master Supervisor of the Second Medical Center of PLA General Hospital

Source: I am a great doctor official microblog (ID: woshidayisheng)