Emotional Eating
Emotional eating is a compulsory act of eating when we are not hungry; instead, we eat to cover up an uncomfortable emotion – or enhance an exciting one. We often don’t notice we are doing it. Emotions we may want to cover up include sadness, loneliness, boredom, anger, stress, or tiredness. We may also want to enhance feelings of excitement during a social event or receiving a reward. Foods we consume during this time are usually processed foods: sweet treats, salty and crunchy snacks, or refined breads like pasta or bagels.
The Hunt for Dopamine
Why do we eat this way? Why is it so hard to stop? Our brain is wired to follow a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Dopamine is part of the reward system used to help us succeed in life. We get a boost of dopamine when we are social, work hard, eat or drink, and during other enriching activities. All these things are needed to survive. The brain remembers the activities that we do resulting in a reward and encourages us to repeat them. However, sugar and processed food boost dopamine levels unnaturally high, so, like a drug, the brain encourages us to seek these foods. When we feel an uncomfortable emotion, the dopamine levels in our brain drops, subsequently the brain encourages us to find something to bring them back up quickly: processed food, the drug of choice.
Curbing the Craving
Over time, eating processed food during uncomfortable emotions rewires the brain to always resolve problems with food. Such a deeply engrained habit is hard to kick because it is driven by the powerful reward system. Eating supportive, healthy food and removing unsupportive, processed food is not simply a matter of resolve or discipline, it is a process of working with the subconscious reward system. The goal is to patiently rewire the brain back to normal. Such a transition takes time, but here are tips to begin the process:
- Be mindful of your emotional triggers. Identify when you crave snacks the most and then associate the emotion driving the craving.
- Resolve the emotion, not the craving. If you are lonely, choose to phone a friend instead of eating a donut. If you are tired in the evening, go to bed early instead of munching on chips.
- Fill your day with enriching experiences. There are other sources of deeper, longer-lasting dopamine events. These include activities involving physical activity, social interaction, personal or spiritual connection, and creativity like a hobby. Use these activities instead of eating processed food and see how you feel!