Emotional Eating: 4 Tips To Overcome
Emotional eating means that many people consume more calories than they should. It is caused by an excessive supply of food.
Eating without being hungry is a bigger problem than it may seem. It is known as “emotional eating” and is caused by an overabundance of food.
The addition of added sugars, trans fats, and additives makes people keep eating even after they’ve already satiated their appetites.
Such a situation is of course often associated with being overweight, as more calories are consumed than the body consumes every day. Because of this, the general state of health deteriorates, which favors the development of chronic diseases. However, emotional eating is a condition that sufferers can overcome.
What is emotional eating and why is it harming you?
As we have already explained, emotional eating means that you eat when you are not hungry, for example because a certain food tastes delicious. The main problem here is that in addition to the risks to your own health, the calorie requirement is also exceeded.
You have to consider that both simple sugars and trans fats have been shown to have a negative impact on the body and can change the functioning of systems and metabolism.
Emotional eating is associated with ingesting highly processed industrial products, which poses a hazard to the body. There is also evidence that these types of foods also carry a higher risk of getting sick.
Indeed, it is recommended to consume a lot of fresh food and to avoid industrial products as much as possible. Even if we know that they sometimes taste better or more intense.
To Learn More: Almond Milk Consumption In Children: Advantages And Disadvantages
How can you overcome emotional eating?
We explain a number of tips that you can put into practice to overcome your emotional hunger and thus also improve your health.
1. Go to the supermarket fully saturated
If we go to the supermarket when we are hungry, there is a greater risk of buying sweets or unhealthy foods. Simply buying them is also a disadvantage, as it makes it easier for us to fall back on them at home when we have an appetite. Then, because of the delicious taste, it will be difficult to stop eating them, even if you are already feeling full.
2. Increase the fiber intake in the diet
Another important tip has to do with the influence of fiber on the diet. According to a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition , this indigestible substance has the ability to increase feelings of satiety.
This will reduce the risk of snacking between meals and consuming sweet or high-calorie products that are low in nutritional value.
3. Avoid distractions while eating
It’s important not to eat while you’re watching TV or playing games on your phone. Otherwise you will lose track of the amount consumed.
This can easily lead to eating more of a certain food than necessary just because it satisfies your taste buds. But this has nothing to do with the fact that there is a real physical hunger that indicates a need for food.
When eating, it is important to turn on all your senses and be aware of the food.
4. Do not consume soft drinks
Regular consumption of sugar can create a certain addiction. So this process is linked to emotional eating. Soft drinks are characterized by the fact that they contain a large amount of simple carbohydrates that we consume through the liquid.
The effects on the body will therefore be mostly negative. Therefore, it is possible that your body will demand a constant supply of it in the future, always more than it really needs.
It is possible to overcome emotional eating
Although it seems quite complicated at times, it is possible to get past emotional eating. The first thing you should realize is that this is a serious problem. Otherwise you will not be able to come up with a solution to the problem.
Therefore, we recommend that you put the above tips into practice, as they will be effective at least in the medium term.
Remember that this is something that has a lot to do with psychological behavior, so it can sometimes be useful to attend nutritional coaching or therapy sessions. It is important, however, that this type of behavior does not become part of the diet permanently.
We must always keep in mind that hunger is a sensation that signals a need. So when this sensation disappears, it is optimal not to ingest additional food, as the body understands that the essential need has already been met.
