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Is Food Your Comfort?

Is Food Your Comfort?

Emotional eating involves consuming food in response to a wide variety of emotions – sadness, stress, anxiety, anger, boredom, loneliness and even happiness!

This type of eating usually manifests as:

  • Binge eating
  • Night eating
  • Unnecessary snacking
  • Constant grazing

The eating itself is reported to fill some kind of void, soothe negative emotions and act as a distraction from the present moment. Sadly this approach does not last and is usually followed by feelings of guilt, wanting more and results in detrimental effects upon one's health, including bloating, nausea, fluid retention, stress, anxiety, raised cholesterol and weight gain.

Why do we emotionally eat? 

Studies have also found that individuals seem to confuse their internal states of hunger and satiety with the physiological changes that happen in their body when they’re emotional.
Another key reason for emotional eating is that people are not equipped with other tools to manage the stress or emotional upheaval of their life so instead they use food to self-medicate, much like they might cry for milk when they are a baby.

So how exactly does food make us feel better?

Research has shown that emotional eaters usually reach for energy-dense foods - those rich in carbohydrates and sugar. Interestingly the increased consumption of carbohydrates leads to increased production of an amino acid known as tryptophan. Tryptophan is what’s needed to make our happy chemical serotonin, which means that eating carbs leads to a boost in our overall mood!

This begs the questions - next time you sit down to have a biscuit with your coffee, a bar of chocolate in the evening or a handful of lollies from the office bench, ask yourself: Am I really hungry or am I needing a bit of a boost?

 

 

Whilst occasional soul food is inevitable and completely OK, many women have spent a lifetime using food and or alcohol to soothe themselves and alleviate feelings of emotional deprivation.

So when trying to lose weight for improved health, we encourage you to develop other ways that make sure you’re adequately meeting your emotional needs. Then when you embark on a health transformation and remove the things they've been relying on, you won’t end up feeling lost or emotionally empty.

How to overcome emotional eating

When you turn to food to distract from the present moment, ease feelings of hurt from the past or emotionally ‘fill your tank’, what can result is rebound binge eating which occurs in an attempt to restore homeostasis.
To prevent this from happening, you need to take a HOLISTIC approach to your weight loss plan. That means not only focusing on portion control and avoiding harmful foods, but also reconnecting with or finding your passions. Ask yourself: What do I love to do? What truly feeds my soul?

I also encourage you to tune into whatever feelings that arise and implement stress management and self-love practices every single day. These might include a morning mantra, a gentle yoga practice, meditation, nightly gratitude journaling, time in nature, breathing exercises, a bath with essential oils or being creative with art or music.

I want to finish by saying that eating to excite your senses rather than to fuel your physical body is OK! Even eating to comfort a broken heart or stressed mind is fine once in a while. However,  food should never be our primary coping mechanism. 

Check out our other article on mindful eating to reduce your chances of binge eating. You’ll also find valuable tips that can help you with weight loss and feeling good all over.

REFERENCES

Frayn M, Livshits S, Knäuper B. Emotional eating and weight regulation: a qualitative study of compensatory behaviors and concerns. Journal of Eating Disorders. 2018;6:23. Published 2018 Sep 14.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-018-0210-6

Nguyen-Rodriguez ST, Unger JB, Spruijt-Metz D. Psychological determinants of emotional eating in adolescence. Eating Disorders. 2009;17(3):211-224. 
https://doi.org/10.1080/10640260902848543

Tan, Cin Cin & Chow, Chong Man. Stress and emotional eating: The mediating role of eating dysregulation. Personality and Individual Differences. 2014;66(8):1–4.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.02.033

Konttinen, H., van Strien, T., Männistö, S. et al. Depression, emotional eating and long-term weight changes: a population-based prospective study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 16, 28 (2019).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-019-0791-8

 

 

Lauren Jane

Lauren is a registered Naturopath (herbalist and clinical nutritionist), with a background in Psychology. She is passionate about natural medicine for women’s health; treating digestive issues, hormonal imbalances and helping people ditch the diet mentality for a more intuitive approach to eating. She believes it’s time that women redefine what health looks like, heal their relationship with food and enjoy life without a preoccupation with their weight.

28-DC binge eating comfort food emotional eating Happy Weight challenge stress eating
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In 2020 I started loosing a lot of hair from my crown. It was so distressing to see almost half of my thickness disappear in the last 2years. Then I started taking happy hormones at the beginning of this year and my crown has grown hair as have the sides of my temples which were empty. To say I am happy is an understatement I am forever grateful to have come across this incredible product. View the pictures now and before shots. Thankyou Happy Hormones your product is exceptional!

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Thank you. I really notice the differenc. My moods are more balanced, the urgency and discomfort associated with the need to be has reduced. I will definitely be continuing thank you.

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I’ve been having hot flushes for about 4 years or so but am still only peri menopausal. My flushes have pretty much stopped, I probably chose the wrong time of year to start taking these wonder capsules as now I’m feeling the cold here in Melbourne…this time last year I was still walking around in t-shirts and Havi’s! Another amazing benefit is that I was still taking the contraceptive pill to regulate and to prevent severe cramping not only during my cycle but also during ovulation. I decided to stop taking the pill to see if my cycle had stopped naturally as I turned 50 in January, it hasn’t, so the ovulation pain that came 2 weeks later was excruciating and I was effectively bed ridden for 5 days! I was DREADING my period! Whilst ovulating I had starting taking Happy Hormones and lo and behold, when the period arrived, NO PAIN!! I had told my Dr that I had planned on restarting the pill….no longer necessary! I’m so extremely grateful to have found HH and that I took the chance to try something natural…it’s been a complete game changer for me!

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Love these products but what I love more is the support and the groups! At least you find out that that weird sensation, or itch or weight gain or something is just not you alone! I take a few of the HH products and really like them all. HH, HL, HC, HG, GT...........lately been taking HC twice a day...I think its working ...my husband is still alive :)
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Have been taking HH for about 5 years now and they truly work. The formula of HH is the best I have ever come across. I feel calmer taking them and they keep the hot flushes to either nothing or very mild. I take two capsules twice daily which seems to be the best maintenance dose. Go on try them, HH really work.

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I have been taking HH for over a year and each time i think I can go without them I notice such a decrease in energy and mood. They have made a significant difference to my life and mood. I am a shift worker and I highly recommend for any women peri menopausal and low energy levels.

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I wish I'd tried HH sooner.

100 Happy Hormone tablets later and WHAT a difference. I cant imagine not taking this little supplement of sanity every day. If you are tossing up needs v's wants .... HH are a need, do this for yourself. I wish I had've ordered sooner.

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I started going through peri menopause and am having a period every 3-5 months. My biggest symptom beside insomnia is hot flushes. I was having one every 10 minutes and I became a very horrible person as I just couldn't stand them. Enter Happy Hormones, I was having 2 morning and night and it wasn't doing anything and then someone on the FB page suggested 3 morning and night and for that I am forever grateful as now I am not grumpy all the time and the hot flushes are like maybe 5 a day now. I am sure my husband and kids thanks you more :)

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My great friend Lori Woodhouse recommended I take Happy Hormones almost four years ago. It is the only supplement I have really noticed a significant improvement in my well being. I haven't gone without it since! I went from struggling to cope with being a working mum to enjoying parenting, and being able to balance life. I returned to uni whilst still working, finished my degree, and accepted a new job which is interesting, family friendly and challenging. I don't believe I could have managed all that in the past 4 years without my daily dose of Happy Hormones, and of course the support of my wonderful friend Lori Woodhouse. Lori also landed her dream job in that time, which combines her skills as a Registered Nurse with a passion for health at Happy Healthy You! This is us at my 50th Birthday Lunch just four weeks ago!

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I use both Happy hormones and happy liver, although I am 68 I still get hot flushes, my recent blood test my liver is great
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