Stress, anxiety, sadness, loneliness… Some people manage their emotions by eating compulsively. This is called emotional hunger. What are the causes ? How to recognize it? When to worry and how to overcome it? Answers with Dr Béatrice Millêtre, psychologist.
Emotions cause in some people a feed compulsively, not really hungry. So-called emotional hunger differs from physiological hunger since it does not come from a need of the organism but from a impulse of brain linked to an emotional state. What causes emotional hunger? What are the signs? When to worry? And how do you overcome emotional hunger?
Definition: what is emotional hunger?
“When you eat without being hungry and that this action is dictated by an emotion (conscious or not), we speak of emotional hunger. This type of eating behavior can relate to both a positive emotion and a negative emotion.” indicates Dr Béatrice Millêtre, doctor in psychology. Each person develops his way of managing emotions and one of them is food. “Sugar stimulates the pleasure and satisfaction centers of the brain. Therefore, there is a hedonic aspect in the diet which can cause a addiction and emotional hunger“adds the psychologist.
Causes: why do we say “eating your emotions”?
Hunger is under the control of the brain. We distinguish the fact of being satiated (the intestine is full) of the satiety (the brain registers that I have eaten enough for this meal). Neurons in the brain change shape to tell you that you are no longer hungry. “Eating your emotions” is an expression that translates the idea of eating to attenuate positive or negative emotions (the stressfear, anger, boredom, loneliness…). Eating a piece of chocolate because I’m bored or tired occasionally isn’t a problem. But when it is too frequent, emotional hunger can turn into food pathology (anorexia, bulimia).
What are the signs of so-called emotional hunger?
Real hunger in the physiological sense is manifested by gurgling in the stomach or the ability to eat things you like less (not just sugar or pleasure foods) for example. The body only needs 3 or 4 meals a day, if you eat outside of these times, you are emotionally hungry. On the other hand, if you eat because you are stressed, anxious, sad or happy, that is, if your diet is managing an emotion, it is a sign of emotional hunger. Finally, blame following a meal is also a marker of emotional hunger.
If eating causes guilt, consult
When to worry when you eat compulsively?
Eating compulsively, without hunger and recurrently must lead the patient to consult a psychologist, a psychiatrist or a nutritionist. As soon as food generates negative secondary emotions such as the guilt (the more I blame myself, the more I crack once more), we must get help. “For example, one of my patients padlocked her fridge and carried it to the bottom of her garden. And yet at night she mightn’t help getting up and eating. She came to consult and got out of it in a few sessions, rebalancing her diet” illustrates Dr. Millêtre.
The meal should last at least 20 minutes
It is important to consult as soon as one does not feel capable of resisting food impulses, that one maintains a conflicting relationship with food. Therapy, hypnosis sessions... several solutions exist! The problem must be taken care of as soon as possible in order to avoid falling into food pathology (anorexia, bulimia, etc.) which endangers health. In addition, some tips can help rebalance your diet:
- eat everything without depriving yourself of a reasonable quantity.
- The meal must last at least 20 minutes so that the brain receives the information that you are full (by putting down your fork several times during the meal, for example)
- have a food diary and note the foods, the quantities and the emotion that you felt when you ate them
- Start the meal with raw vegetables
- Allow yourself a piece of chocolate, a piece of cake etc. without feeling guilty
Thanks to Dr. Béatrice Millêtre, doctor in psychology.
