On Emotional Eating

As we sit and contemplate, the more we question what we're feeling, how we're feeling it, and why we're feeling it, or as we articulate it to others, our awareness grows.

Emotions are classified within themselves, like in the picture, with red representing "anger" and yellow representing "joy"...

We become aware of what we're feeling. Then we delve into why we're feeling this way...

The connection between categorizing emotions and nutrition comes from here:

Human beings are complex creatures; sometimes we eat not to satiate our stomachs but to satisfy our emotions.

We turn to foods that we know will make us happy to control our anger, sadness, or exhaustion. These are usually high-calorie or sugary foods.

Or conversely, we can be positively influenced; the smell of a delicious homemade cake can uplift us, perhaps even transport us back in time.

So, it's quite normal for us to associate our need for food with our emotions, but trying to mask negative emotions with food can lead to emotional eating problems, which in turn can lead to health issues.

That's why in such negatively influenced situations, we need to distinguish between our physical hunger and our emotional hunger.

During physical hunger, the body can experience various levels of satiety; stomach rumbling, low energy, weakness, etc...

During emotional hunger, however, we feel the need to eat without these symptoms, feeling full and energetic.

In fact, low energy is related to our minds, not our stomachs.

As we make these and many similar distinctions and increase our awareness, we notice that our habits change.

If our habits change, so do we.

Wishing for increased awareness and the development of healthier habits...

Edanur Serçe, RD

Dietitian and Nutrition Specialist