We’ve all been there, done that. At some point of time, even if it was the shortest possible time like a few minutes, stress eating affects almost every single person. Food is comforting and at times when nothing else seems to give your brain comfort, it turns its attention towards its most basic need, food! While rewarding oneself with food may not be a bad thing, (duh, celebration dinners wouldn’t exist then), the problem comes when food is the primary source of comfort.

Statistically, stress eating is a lot more common amongst women, but the incidences in men are increasing these days. Recently, slower rate of weight loss and attending to children for working mothers are leading to stress eating. Men, while incidences are lower in comparison, are not immune. Long work days, lack of holidays, stressful and long meetings are the most common causes for stress eating. For both sexes, boredom is the next reason for stress eating.

Invariably people seem to know that they are stress eating, but if you don’t, the following are reasonably accurate benchmarks.

1. Stress eating is usually for specific foods. Like wanting biscuits in front of the TV for a late night TV show or eating a bowl of ice-cream after a break-up. For hunger, usually any food would suffice.
2. Stress eating doesn’t stop once your full and you may end up eating much more than you normally do.
3. Usually after a heavy celebratory meal, you may feel full, but after a bout of stress eating, you may feel guilty.
4. Stress eating can cause you to want food immediately compared to physical hunger which can usually wait.

Stress eating can cause a number of problems like overeating, obesity and increased cholesterol levels among others. It can cause depression after a while, though it feels like it is curing your depression at the moment. Stress eating, like other forms of temporary pleasure, can cause a habit as bad as smoking!

Once you identify stress eating, the next step is to be proactive in your approach to end it.

Things You Can Do:

1. Reduce access to junk food. If you are the type who stocks ice cream stop stocking up. Reduce the access to food and this would cut off your source.
2. Find alternative foods to feed the immediate need. If you eat some nuts and healthy food, it will not feed the stress and hence the brain will not look for it.

3. Find alternative feeds. Once the immediate food is fed and brain is doused, the brain will ask for something to combat the stress. If depressed, talk to a friend, if bored, read a book or watch a movie or anything that distracts you. If you are anxious about something, take a walk and if you are tired, get yourself something nice to drink.
4. Work on the problem. If stress eating is a way of life, then you need to identify the root cause. While some problems cannot be wished away, there will definitely be ways that makes it less stressful. A working mom who had severe episode of stress eating found that when she took a break between work and heading home, like stopping at a coffee shop or taking a walk on the beach for a few minutes. Her stress eating stopped and her energy levels rebounded! Sometimes simple things like that can make a big difference.

Sometimes small things like this can make a huge difference.

Our collaborator, is preventive care and wellness physician, Dr. Wasim Mohideen. A medical professional with an MBA and Post Graduate training in Allopathy as well as Alternative medicine, he strives to bridge the gap between modern medicine, traditional treatments and healthcare management.

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