upcoming presidential election This can lead to a lot of unwanted – and sometimes unhealthy – snacking.
According to various studies, emotional eating may be a byproduct of stressful times, including political events, sports playoffs, and other events.
Recent research published in the journal Nutrients indicates that emotional eating is considered a “significant risk factor for recurrent weight gain.”
The findings suggest a link between emotional eating and health factors such as obesity, depression, anxiety and stress.
The researchers concluded that identifying healthy mechanisms for coping with negative emotions could help prevent dangerous outcomes.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Los Angeles-based registered dietitian nutritionist Ilana Muhlstein said she often sees an increase in emotional eating among her clients during stressful times.
Have worked with private clients Through three presidential election cyclesMuhlstein said there is “always an increase in activity” before and after an election.
“People are watching the debates and watching the commentary on the couch, quickly eating their bag of chips or cookies, and that’s really destructive behavior,” he said.
During “nail-biting games,” people are also more inclined to snack mindlessly to “feel in control of the situation,” Muhlstein said.
“When we have these periods of unrest, where there’s this state of not knowing … this feeling of being in limbo that can feel uncomfortable, people mistake it for hunger,” he said.
Emotional Eating and Weight Loss
As a nutritionist, Muhlstein said emotional eating is one of the biggest factors she has encountered with her clients who are struggling with their weight.
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“Until we overcome emotional eating, it’s really hard to lose weight and even harder to keep it off,” she said.
According to Muhlstein, emotional eating is more prevalent in American culture than in other countries, because many food companies have “pressured us… that food is the thing that makes us feel better.”
Consuming unhealthy dishes and sweets during happy occasions such as birthdays and other celebrations does not have the same negative long-term effects as eating to recover from a negative situation.
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“We want treats like cakes or cookies to enhance the positive experience,” she said.
“If you have a piece [of cake] With overall healthy eating, you can still lose weight that week – you can still feel good in your body.
“If you’re fired from a job, or you’re divorced, or you’re fighting with your best friend, or watching the news and feeling stressed, and you’re sitting there in a very rushed, unhappy way. Eating cake to give you that short-term emotional relief and dopamine effect — I think that’s what triggers a long-term, unhealthy relationship with food, Muhlstein said.
potential for addiction
Emotional eaters tend to eat foods that are high in sugar and other fat-boosting ingredients, which may have addictive properties, Muhlstein said.
The expert warned that a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens will “fire up” and release dopamine when processed foods containing sugar, salt, fat and other artificial flavors are consumed.
“We see in a lot of research that there is a connection between eating ultra-processed foods and these feel-good chemicals in our bodies,” he said.
“When we’re eating things like cookies that have no fiber… or we’re eating a lot of candy that is just sugar, syrup, flavors and colors, it never really fills us up and never satisfies us.” Does.”
Guilt can worsen emotional eating, Muhlstein said, because many people “beat themselves up” after eating unhealthy foods.
Studies have shown that people who feel guilty when overeating are more prone to emotional eating and more likely to continue eating poorly.
How to control emotional eating
Muhlstein encouraged people to “lose shame or guilt” and try to have a positive outlook regarding eating habits.
“If you’re constantly telling yourself, ‘I’m going to stress eat, I’m going to stress eat, I’m going to stress eat,’ then the next time you’re stressed, you’ll likely go on a diet,” she told Fox. News Digital.
“If you say to yourself, ‘I’m so stressed, I really need to take a walk,’ or ‘When I’m stressed, I like to journal or do a mindful practice like meditation or yoga. ,’ then you’ll slowly start to engage in those healthy stress management techniques.”
A simple way to stop emotional eating is to keep high-sugar, high-fat, ultraprocessed foods out of the house.
“You want to set your environment up for success,” Muhlstein advised. “This way, when you’re stressed, you don’t have those quick-fix foods that stressed you out.”
Muhlstein also recommends using healthy coping mechanisms like exercise, deep breathing and drinking plenty of water in high-stress situations.
