Why do we eat more when we’re stressed? The relationship between stress and food began to be studied a long time ago. Today, stress affects much of the world’s population, immersed in a globalized society that increasingly demands people capable of addressing and solving professional, social and emotional problems.
It was Hans Selye who, in 1926, first defined stress as “a body’s non-specific response to any request. “The body responds in the same way to any event it deems stressful, and this reaction is considered non-specific. , regardless of the source that causes it.
- For this reason.
- When there is a buildup of physical or psychological tension.
- The body undergoes a number of changes at the physical.
- Biological and hormonal level.
Almost all of our organs are involved in this process, including the brain, nerves, heart, digestion, muscle function, among others; it is characterized by excessive activity of the central, sympathetic and parasympathetic, endocrine and immune systems.
Among the most important physiological changes are the secretion of hormones, such as adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisol.
Stress can be caused by two types of factors: external stimuli, which can be economic, family, professional, etc. , and internal stimuli, such as pain, illness, feelings of inferiority or psychological problems.
Prolonged stress directly affects our health, facilitating the development of certain pathologies or increasing the likelihood of inappropriate dietary behaviors; In addition, it can change the way we eat, like eating more when we’re stressed, a problem we addressed in this article.
Anxiety creates the need to incorporate substances that increase Serotonin or other neuromediators to obtain stress-compensating sensations, and these substances are usually sugary and fatty foods, in addition, does stress lead to an increase in cortisol, a hormone that promotes fat accumulation ?. -Javier Aranceta-
Stress can affect appetite and hunger. Sometimes there is a dissociation between appetite (especially psychic sensation) and hunger (essentially organic feeling).
The desire to eat can change due to various emotional situations due to chemical, vascular and impulse variations transmitted to the mesencephalus by the brain and other organs of the body.
Emotionally motivated eating habits lead to food consumption in response to them, especially bad ones. The most common habits we can acquire are:
Some stressed people often eat foods high in sugars, fats, calories, and salt, in addition to overconseating them, that is, they eat more when stressed.
A poor diet can have adverse health effects, including not only overweight and obesity, but also an increased risk of developing a variety of diseases, including:
“Stress affects not only eating habits, but also what lies behind it: the nutritional metabolic process, the situation of satisfaction of nutritional needs. The consequences can be diverse: a delay in digestion, an inadequate and dysfunctional way to metabolize food, which disorders can become chronic and affect a person’s health. -Juan José Daaz Franco-
Lattimore, P. et Caswell, in a study at the University of Liverpool, explain why dieters eat more in stressful situations.
“These people expend so much energy to control their biological signals that they have little resources to deal with everyday problems. That’s why, when they’re stressed, they lose control and end up eating. Besides, they’re so used to neglecting their body that they ignore” or misinterpreting the signs of combat or flight?.
In another survey conducted by the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, Laitinen J. and Sovio concluded that nervous tension causes harmful dietary changes and leads to unhealthy eating behaviors. According to the study authors:
“People most at risk of eating under stress are emotional eaters, who are the most vulnerable and tend to turn to food to escape self-awareness. When you feel anxious, emotionally energetic, or fed up with yourself, do you try to avoid these negative feelings by focusing your attention on food?