By Staff Writer
Most people accept a strong connection between your emotions and obesity. Studies such as that by Koski, M, and H Naukkarinen. “Severe obesity, emotions and eating habits: a case-control study.” BMC obesity vol. 4 2. 7 Jan. 2017, show a strong link between negative emotions such as depression, anxiety, stress, and overeating. This overeating during spells of depression and anxiety is known as binge eating and often leads to obesity over an extended period.
What is Binge Eating?
Binge eating is an eating disorder and refers to consuming excessive food quickly. It has emerged that intensely challenging emotional states will cause binge eating. People often do this to alleviate stress, depression, fear, anxiety, loneliness, or even a bad day at work. If this is habitual, it can often lead to obesity. Obesity is dangerous to overall good health as it makes your body vulnerable to other harmful conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and even the COVID-19 virus.
What Causes You to Eat More When Experiencing Negative Emotions?
People tend to use food as a form of self-medication to ward off sad or bad feelings. Many people claim that food makes them happy and helps block uncomfortable feelings of sadness, shame, self-loathing, and depression, among other negative emotions. They start consuming carbohydrates or other sugar-rich, soothing foods such as ice cream or cakes. There is a scientific reason for physical and mental responses to the consumption of some foods.
Food high in carbs and sugar increases serotonin levels in the brain. Serotonin is a chemical that elevates your mood. Consuming foods high in sugar promotes feelings of calmness and makes you feel relaxed. However, ultimately such a diet leads to weight gain, heart diseases, and other serious health complications.
How to Deal with Depressive Overeating?
If you can control the negative emotions that lead to overeating, you can eliminate the cause of the consequential obesity. One recommendation for tackling depression is getting help through an appropriate therapy suited to you. Your therapist will identify the reason (s) for overeating and help you address and deal with it/them. Many people recognize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as an excellent treatment to relieve depression and overeating. During CBT, your therapist will search for the causes that trigger negative emotions and ultimately overeating. They will then suggest treatment options depending on your condition.
Lifestyle Changes that help in Dealing with Overeating
Specific lifestyle changes can significantly help deal with negative emotions and avoid the risk of obesity. Some of the recommended lifestyle changes include:
- Reducing Stress
Stress and anxiety trigger negative emotions, which may lead to overeating. So, it would help if you tried to reduce stress and anxiety symptoms as much as possible.
- Regular Exercise
Exercise helps reduce stress and alleviate anxiety by boosting your mood and energy levels. Also, it enhances the feelings of calmness and relaxation. Including daily exercise as part of your routine is an excellent way to combat anxiety and stress symptoms.
- Avoid Temptations
Temptations are another source of overeating. Try to keep bad-for-you foods out of your grocery. Having them in your cupboards or pantry will be tempting. So, to avoid overeating, make your ‘comfort foods’ less accessible to you, especially when you are at your most vulnerable.
