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Emotional Eating: Have you ever noticed that when you are very angry, sad or feel lonely, you suddenly feel like eating pizza, burgers or sweets? If yes, then you are a victim of ’emotional eating’. This hunger is not of the stomach, but of the mind, where we take help of food to calm our emotions. In recent times, the number of people who eat not when they are hungry but when they are in a bad mood has increased rapidly. Doing this can be harmful for health.
Recently, the number of people eating not just for hunger or taste, but also because of emotions has increased. In times of anger, crying, sadness or heartbreak, many people run towards fast food. This is a hunger completely related to the mind, in which people leave healthy food and look only for fast food. This can also cause many types of problems. Especially problems like stomach enlargement, hormonal imbalance, heart problems and diabetes can occur. Therefore it is very important to come out of this habit.
But for people who eat emotionally, it is not so easy for them to come out of that habit. They become slaves of that feeling. For example, if they do not eat food when it comes to their mind, then they feel that everything is over, sadness and stress also increases. If you also feel the same, then the methods given below may help you.
1) First of all know when you feel like eating this. Like when you are hungry, lonely, or when you are under a lot of stress, you feel like eating fast food more. Think about how to avoid or handle such times and act accordingly.
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2) To avoid hunger due to fast food, always keep your stomach filled with healthy food. Eating small amounts of fruits and vegetables as snacks throughout the day will be beneficial. Understand when you are really hungry and when you are emotionally hungry and eat healthy snacks like fruits or vegetables at that time, this can also avoid emotional hunger.
3) Include nutrient-rich items in your diet. Especially choose protein rich food, low carbohydrate food and good fat food. With this, emotional hunger can be controlled. People suffering from obesity, heart disease or diabetes should make these changes only after consulting the doctor.
4) As slowly as possible, incorporate new eating habits into your daily life. For example, give up only sugary tea or coffee in the first week. Then reduce sweets and juices in the next week. After that, give up fried foods in the next week. Meanwhile, eat one fruit every day. In this way, gradually changing the eating habits will help the body as well as the mind to adopt new things.
It is definitely a bit difficult to give up eating due to emotions. But also celebrate the small changes you bring in this long journey. Congratulate yourself. Try to have people around you who support you in this journey. Make a routine for yourself as to when to eat and when not to eat. This will help you come out of wrong eating habits. Do not eat food to drown it due to emotions.
If even after adopting so many things, you are not able to stay away from junk food or feel like eating again and again throughout the day, then it is important to take advice from a nutrition expert. Then you have a mental illness that needs to be treated.
Disclaimer: This is given for general information only. Consult a doctor before making any changes in your diet or daily habits. News18Tamilnadu does not take responsibility for this information.
