Stress is a usual part of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, be it for students, working professionals, or homemakers. When we feel stressed, the stress hormone cortisol is produced in our body, often causing an imbalance in the functioning of its various organs.
We all go through stress at different points in time and have our own ways of coping with it. Some people might choose to move their bodies and work out when feeling stressed, some might engage in some art form, and some might even withdraw themselves from everything until they feel better. One of the common yet unhealthy practices people tend to engage in when feeling stressed is “stress eating”.
What Is Stress Eating?
“Stress eating” simply means to eat mindlessly and unnecessarily when one is in a state of stress. Stress eating most often includes binging on unhealthy, processed foods (for eg. chocolates, sweets, ready-to-eat noodles, etc), and leads to an increase in blood sugar levels, drains energy, messes with digestion and what not!
Stop Stress Eating: Here’s Why
Let us begin by talking about why stress eating is harmful and we should do away with this habit, if at all we ever engage it in.
Brings Guilt
Binge-eating junk food feels comforting when one is at the peak of stress but most often induces guilt once the stress levels lower down. And by the time this realisation of having unnecessarily consumed junk food strikes, it is too late to do anything about it.
Breaks Routine Eating Patterns
Since ongoing stress can reach its peak at any given time, stress eating usually happens at odd hours, which are away from one’s regular meal timings. Eating off time may lead one to feeling full or ‘not hungry’ during actual meal timings, thereby breaking a routine eating pattern.
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Leads To Weight Gain
Stress eating leads to weight gain because of obvious reasons – that you overeat; that you eat at odd hours; that you eat junk food.
May Cause Various Diseases
Our gut and brain are connected to each other. Stress eating, thus, has an immediate adverse effect on our gut. Moreover, unhealthy and processed food deprives the body of important nutrients required for protecting it from various diseases. Our brain and our body need quality nutrition to repair and replace damaged cells. Thus, uncontrolled stress eating might invite irreversible damage to the body in the longer run.
How To Stop Stress Eating
Now that we’ve got some idea about why stress eating is unhelpful to our overall health, let us enumerate a few ways we can stop stress eating.
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It actually helps to keep track of what you ate throughout the day so you can reflect on your mistakes (if at all you did).
Maintain A Food Journal
Writing down everything you ate throughout your day really helps you know and look back on where you went wrong (if at all you did). This helps you eat more mindfully and consciously the next day. Also, try and make a note of the emotions you were feeling at the time of each meal. One may be eating at a time of stress or be stressed at the time of eating. Putting it down in a daily food log certainly helps to reflect and work on filling the gaps.
Take A Break, Move
Whenever you feel too much under stress, try and go for a short walk, even if it has to be for 15 minutes. This would help relax your mind and prevent you from unnecessary binge eating. Engaging in a physical activity like playing a sport or dancing may prove even more beneficial during times of stress since physical activity releases endorphins – “the happy hormones”. Precisely, going for a walk is better than going for a snack which does not help the body in any way.
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Exercise Regularly
If a 15-minute walk can work wonders, imagine how beneficial it would be work out regularly. Build a workout routine and give your body that “happy hormone” boost. It would altogether help regulate your stress levels, keeping high stress at bay and preventing the urge to “stress eat”.
Think Before You Eat
Before bringing food close enough to your mouth, ask yourself – “Is this really needed or am I eating out of stress?” If at all you sense doubt within yourself, evaluate other quick alternatives you could engage in to deal with stress at that moment. The alternatives could be sipping water, taking a quick walk, taking a warm shower, calling up a friend, or anything that is healthier and helps you feel comfortable during that time of stress.
Find Healthier Alternatives
Keeping something out of sight is a small but effective way to keep it out of your diet. Avoid keeping unhealthy, processed snacks away from sight and if possible, away from your home altogether. Not seeing unhealthy food around you makes it more likely that you will not go the extra mile to search for it and consume it. Rather, surround yourself with healthier foods such as nuts, roasted foxnuts, homemade munchies, so that in case you do feel the need to munch at odd hours, you tend to eat healthy food rather than junk.
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Find Your “Comfort Food”
At some time when you ain’t under stress, evaluate for yourself and try to figure out what healthy foods you find comfort it. It could be something as simple as homemade curd-rice, dal-rice, paratha, or even a vegetable sandwich. If at all during times of stress you do feel a pressing urge to eat at odd hours, try to grab a portion of your healthy comfort food rather than indulging in junk food that you get from the market or processed food you might use at home.
Chesha Kukkar is a Chandigarh-based dietitian with extensive experience in the field, and has helped 1600+ clients of varying age groups in achieving their health goals. She holds a postgraduate diploma in Nutrition and Dietetics from Govt. Home Science College, Chandigarh, and an internship in Govt. Medical Super Specialty Hospital, sec-16, Chandigarh. She can be reached at http://www.dietitianchesha.com/ .