Feeding Feelings

Do you find yourself reaching for the gallon-sized container of cookie dough ice cream when your stress level is at a maximum or you feel board and unoccupied? You are not alone! The Mayo-Clinic reveals that many people turn to food for comfort as a way to reduce negative emotions such as anxiety, loneliness, and anger.

Nancy Hellmich, in her article, “Successful dieters distinguish hunger from emotions,” addresses the relationship between emotions and food consumption. She shares the story of Pamela Langford, a fifty-year-old woman who used food as a way to cope with overwhelming feelings of loneliness due to the death of her husband in 1996. She expressed: “I worked all day and came home to an empty house. When you are all alone and the telephone does not ring, what do you do? You reach for anything that is there. I would reach into the refrigerator and keep eating and eating. I would eat until I went to bed at night.” When she reached 286 pounds, she realized that the momentary bliss she experienced while eating was not worth the long-term health problems her emotional eating was causing.

Various studies have addressed the role emotions play in food consumption. One study (Algras & Telch, 1998) specifically addressed whether emotions or true hunger play a more significant role in eating. The participants included 60 obese women, half of which were told to fast for 14 hours. All of the women were induced to possess a negative or neural mood and then were presented with a buffet of food. The researchers found that the amount of food consumed correlated with mood and not hunger level. Results revealed that the women that had a negative mood ate more and seemed happier as a result. It wasn’t long before their moods transformed from pleasure to embarrassment for consuming excessive amounts of food.

So, the next time you mix up a batch of cookies with the intent to consume the entire bowl of raw dough, ask yourself: “Am I really hungry or are my emotions tempting me to eat?”

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/emotional-eating-feeding-your-feelings?page=2

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2008-05-18-weight-loss-challenge_N.htm

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T2J-474CY3R-4&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=d3f65be440316a144e53d14dc86f6b99

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W77-477GGB8-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=6315537cf095e2e07275569ddf23cef2