Stress Eating

Many times, we are confronted with stressful situations.  What do we turn to?  Our loyal friend—food.  For many of us, the accessibility of food allows us to eat anything we want at any point of the day: food is as simple as a click away.  However, many tend to “stress eat” if we are going through a particularly difficult time at school or work, and we often chose greasy, fried, salty, or sweet foods to satiate our hunger.

 This is because when we are stressed our bodies release cortisol: “the stress hormone.”  Cortisol has a beneficial function for our bodies, but excessive levels of cortisol brought on by chronic stress can cause a slew of problems in the body.  High levels of cortisol can create cravings for salty and sweet foods. In previous centuries, this enabled people to fill up on foods that would sustain them during times when food was scarce; however, in modern times and industrialized nations, when food is rarely scarce, this previously adaptive mechanism causes excess weight gain.  We tend to engage in “nervous eating” when dealing with a stressful situation, and we eat simply to satisfy a certain nervous tick, not because we are hungry.  Many times, the unhealthy food satisfies us for a short time but then leaves us feeling physically worse off and mentally guilty that we just consumed something that we know is unwholesome.

Michael Pollen, the author of In Defense of Food and the Omnivore’s Dilemma, says that despite the daunting dietary landscape America confronts int eh modern supermarket, we can escape the Western diet of fattening food. By doing so, we can work to eliminate chronic diseases caused or worsened by diet such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.  Pollan’s books give excellent insight into revamping our diet in light of the options available to us.  He says that food has both physical and psychological components, and he analyzes what we eat, why we eat it, and how we can change our diets for the better.

In order to combat “stress eating” we should stock up on healthy, raw foods: mostly proteins and fresh produce like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.  These foods are satisfying but they are still healthy and part of a balanced diet.  The main problem with eating the greasy and salty foods is that while they may be satisfying at the time, they leave us feeling hungry shortly after we eat them, and thus leave us craving more.  This creates a vicious cycle where we constantly desire unhealthy and fattening foods.  If we were to stick to healthy raw foods, we would feel better both mentally and physically.

It is time that we become aware of the food available to us so that we can make informed decisions at the grocery store and ultimately create a more health-conscious nation.