Know the relationship between emotions and food

Our emotions have a powerful effect on our food choices and eating habits. For example, it has been found that the link between emotion and eating is stronger in obese people than in non-obese people and in people who diet relative to people who do not diet (Sánchez and Pontes 2012).

It has also been suggested that emotions are not in themselves the cause of overweight, but rather the way of managing these emotions and the coping style would be the factors that would most influence the appearance of overweight. overweight.

What we eat not only affects how we feel, but How we feel also affects the way we eat. In this sense, Cooper et al (1998) tell us that difficulty in regulating negative mood states has a very great influence on the appearance and maintenance of eating disorders.

Emotional regulation refers to people’s management of their own emotions, taking into account the circumstances and emotional state of others. So, It has been observed that shame and guilt are the emotions that can have a greater negative impact on diet. As we see, the link between emotion and food is more important than we think.

Emotion and food: a necessary tandem for our health

People develop different behaviors in response to their emotions depending on various factors, such as the environment in which they find themselves, their training and their ability to identify and manage their feelings. As a result of this they can control their weight better or worse. For example, it has been observed that the more emotional the person is in their intake, the more lack of control they have in the number of meals, with the elimination of breakfast being constant in their eating routine. As we see, the link between emotion and food is a fact.

The most influential emotional factor in sedentary people is disinhibition in food and indulged cravings. of certain foods such as chocolate and pastries. However, in athletes, guilty emotions, such as fear of the scale and eating sweets, have had more influence than emotions of disinhibition regarding food.

The emotional factors in sedentary people are more dysfunctional than those of athletic people. Excessive cravings and lack of control over intake are more related to overeating and with eating behavior problems.

There is a specific group of individuals who, due to their eating habits, have been called “repressed” eaters or chronic dieters. These people are characterized by experiencing an exacerbated fear of gaining weight, restricting their diet through diets. Paradoxically, under these restrictive conditions, these individuals increase their intake levels by overeating.

Abuse the pleasurable act of eating, Not only can it make us feel more tired and constantly search for more food, but can cause serious health problems. The tandem of emotion and nutrition has to be based on eating exactly what we need. Our emotion is what has to make us aware of the food we need.

The prohibition of food fixes the obsession with food

The greater the prohibition, the greater the risk of binge eating. The normalization of food must be an essential objective in the treatment of eating disorders. Purgative behaviors act as reinforcements for eating behavior and therefore promote lack of eating control in addition to posing significant health risks.

To demonstrate that the prohibition of food fixes the obsession with food, I am going to propose a phrase like “I am going to tell you a phrase that you should not remember later.” Example: there is a yellow butterfly in the room. This has the opposite effect, and the moment we are told that we cannot remember what we have been told, our brain automatically cannot stop processing that information.

The cause of this happening is rooted in the unconscious.. The unconscious is the part that is responsible – in an important part – for directing our body, interpreting and storing the information received by our senses.

An essential characteristic of the unconscious is that it works through symbols and images, rather than text or letters. This implies that, the unconscious does not process negative terms. If we say to ourselves “I shouldn’t eat French fries”, the unconscious will only have the image of French fries and consequently we will feel more like eating. This doesn’t mean it will always happen, but it greatly increases the chances of it happening.

Emotional eating

When we use food to calm our emotional state we are emotionally nourishing. Somehow worrying about our weight and our bodies masks even deeper concerns. This becomes a vicious cycle of concerns that are not resolved and that hinder our ability to grow and develop.

Each organ generates one or another emotions. Depending on whether we eat one food or another, we are going to feel very different emotions. This happens because each food “attacks” different organs. If we eat foods that block our liver, such as alcohol, emotions of anger, anger, aggression or impatience will be more likely.

The reason why people with emotional problems often go looking for food to feel better is because many foods include tryptophan, an amino acid that causes the release of serotonin. Think that Low serotonin levels are associated with depression and obsession.

The lack of serotonin causes different negative effects on the body, such as anxiety, sadness or irritability. When the body does not produce tryptophan, we get it through diet. Therefore, Foods rich in this amino acid act as natural antidepressants.

According to experts, The food group that best contributes to regulating emotions is cereals. These are rich in Vitamin B, which directly influences the nervous system. It has been established that frequent consumption of cereals affects the reduction of anxiety and the attitude we adopt towards problems.

Cooper, P.J., & Taylor, M.J. (1988). Body image disturbance in bulimia nervosa. The British Journal of Psychiatry.

Menendez, I. (2007). Emotional eating: the relationship between our emotions and conflicts with food. Book club.

Sánchez Benito, JL, & Pontes Torrado, Y. (2012). Influence of emotions on weight intake and control. Hospital Nutrition, 27(6), 2148-2150.

Silva, JR (2007). Anxiety-induced overeating part I: behavioral, affective, metabolic, and endocrine evidence. Psychological Therapy, 25(2), 141-154.

Vilariño Besteiro, M., Pérez Franco, C., Gallego Morales, L., Calvo Sagardoy, R., & García de Lorenzo, A. (2009). Reason and emotion: Integrating cognitive-behavioral and experiential interventions in the treatment of long-term eating disorders. Hospital Nutrition, 24(5), 614-617.

Zafra, E. (2011). Fear of eating: relationships between food, emotions and body. In II Spanish Congress of Sociology of Food, Vitoria.

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