Emotional Eaters - are you one?

• If you eat when you're feeling mad, bad or sad, you're a comfort eater.

• If you eat when you're happy, needing a reward or are feeling congratulatory, you're a happy eater.

By the way a great way to know what kind of eater you are can be to keep a food diary.

Comfort eating

Indulging in emotional eating when your life feels as if it's falling about around you may seem like it's a quick-fix to feel better. Of course we know it doesn't really do anything to solve our problems... but it's easy to forget that in the heat of an emotion.

Experts estimate that 75 percent of overeating is caused by emotions. “Emotional eaters have a pattern of eating to cope with stress, emotional conflicts and problems of daily life,” says South African dietician Megan Pentz-Kluyts.

If you're a comfort eater you're part of a very popular 'club' mostly frequented by women. Women are most often emotional eaters because they're so used to being the nurturers to the world that this often the easiest way to self-nurture.

Men I've worked with seem to turn to alcohol more readily than food. Talking about alcohol - have you ever heard about drunkorexia?

Emotional eaters and serotonin

When our serotonin levels drop, our mood and energy quickly follow suit.

Research has found that when women are exhausted, stressed, premenstrual, menopausal or when they're deprived of sunshine, sex, sleep, food or joy, their serotonin level can drop as much as 40 percent lower than a mans.

Certain foods have been found to raise serotonin levels and – surprise, surprise -- they include so-called comfort foods such as carbohydrates (like pasta) and chocolate.

The negative effects for comfort eaters

As far as I'm concerned though, the worst part of comfort eating is the way we beat ourselves up. Given the way our molecules of emotion affect our biochemistry its probaby way more health-eroding than the comfort eating itself.

Treating ourselves as if we’ve committed some heinous crime also does nothing to build our self-esteem but rather erodes our self-confidence and self-respect. And eating becomes a habit that prevents us from learning skills that can effectively resolve our emotional distress.

Finally, if you do succumb, try not to beat yourself up about it. It doesn't do anything to help. It's much healthier to treat yourself with gentle kindness and to treat yourself as an emotional eater an having an opportunity to learn.

Happiness eating

But either way, whether you're an emotional eater who comfort eats or eats for happiness, emotional eating often reflects conditioning about using food in ways that has nothing to do with physical hunger.

We learn very early in life that eating isn't only about hunger but can help soothe our emotional needs too. Food, especially the ‘illegal’ foods that Mom and Dad don't always want us to eat can soothe and comfort emotional needs such as hurt, fear, anger or boredom.

Happy eating is associated with food: from birthday parties, to holiday eating like Christmas and Thanksgiving, and used to congratulate children for anything from doing well in school to behaving well.

Inevitably food becomes more than just vitamins and minerals. It becomes cross-referenced with happiness and celebrating, comfort and soothing.

The challenge is for emotional eaters to raise their serotonin levels in non-food related ways. For women - sharing problems with a friend, holding hands or any feeling of connection can accomplish that.

How do emotional eaters break the habit?

1. What are your triggers? You'll start to see patterns emerging.

• Take note what and when you eat as well as what stressors (people, places, circumstances), thoughts and emotions you're eating for.

• Are you waiting too long to eat, resulting in low blood sugar?

• Is there a particular time of day that you always feel like snacking?

2. Learn to tell the difference between physical and emotional hungers.

According to the University of Texas Counseling and Mental Health Centre eemotional hunger comes on suddenly, physical hunger occurs gradually.

• When you are eating to fill an emotional void you crave a specific food such as pizza or ice cream and only that food will meet your need. But eating for physiological hunger leaves you more open to various food options.

• Emotional hunger feels like it needs to be satisfied instantly with the food you crave, unless you've left your physical hunger for too long, it doesn't feel that same urgent or frenetic intensity about it.

• Emotional eating is usually automatic or mindless eating

• Never under-eat or skip over your hunger. Eat whenever you're hungry and make sure you're giving your body sufficient food.

• Try to include protein, fat and carbohydrate at each meal and snack if possible.

• Avoid very low kilojoule/ calorie diets or diets that are restrictive or depriving.

• Taking a note helps you identify your eating patterns. For example you may experience sugar cravings every afternoon at 3pm. This could mean that you may need to eat an appropriate snack at this time or it could mean that what you had for lunch may not have been the right choice. It could also indicate a high stress time where a quick break might be needed.

• Include whole grain carbohydrates with each meal. The fibre content of these foods helps to keep blood sugar levels stable to avoid any blood sugar drops which can led to food cravings.

• When a food craving hits first try to distract yourself. Phone a friend, have a cup of tea or coffee, take a walk, clean out a cupboard etc...

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