Stress Eating (July 29, 2014)
Last week I mentioned that one of the signs of food addiction is the use of food to control mood, most commonly to cope with stress. The reason that such a thing is even possible is simply because what you eat and how you eat it definitely affects your mental and emotional state. That's true of everyone, not just food addicts, but it isn't until you start combining unhealthy behavior with that very normal physiology that you run into trouble. Still, we know that food addicts are not on average more obese than the rest of the population -- that means that there must be ways to keep food addiction from getting out of control.
The body’s normal stress response is designed to deal with an immediately present danger of some kind (that's why it's also called the "fight or flight" response). It affects many systems of the body, it is very intense and most importantly, it is meant to be BRIEF. So everything that happens in the body in its stress response is meant to prepare it for combat or to run away – raising blood pressure to get more blood to the muscles, dilation of the pupils to improve clarity of vision, etc., etc. And it includes shutting down the digestive system to divert more blood to the brain and muscles, the logic being that digesting dinner can wait until after you've killed the tiger. Unfortunately, when that brief shutdown becomes prolonged (as it does under chronic stress, the kind we have these days), all kinds of problems can occur in the digestive system (among others), many of them because of inadequate blood flow. So eating a large meal, particularly one with a high fat content, diverts blood to the digestive system and compels some relaxation. That's one way that eating can influence stress.
Normal stress also raises blood sugar, which is then quickly used up. Low blood sugar produces hunger and something sweet will raise your blood sugar back up very quickly, so that’s what people usually end up eating. Unfortunately the spike in blood sugar that a sugary food can cause will often provoke a bit of over-reaction on the body’s part, resulting in your blood sugar quickly crashing again -- which forces your body to try to raise it back up with another stress response. And so it goes.
The stress response is normal. But it is meant to be brief. These days our stressors are not usually temporary, they are prolonged and very often dealing with them effectively is out of our control. We wind up with our bodies in hyper-alert mode all the time, and that wears us out. It’s only natural to want to relax, and in fact it's very necessary for continued good health to do so. But using food for that purpose can quickly become a problem in itself.
What can be done? Well, to start with, keeping one’s blood sugar as even and as close to normal as possible as a regular habit is a great idea. That way not only will you experience less stress (you won't be reacting regularly to low blood sugar), but when stress does occur it won't knock you so far off balance. Keeping blood sugar level is best done with a diet that includes as few processed foods as possible because pasta, sugar, flour all deliver a quick sugar high followed by a stressful crash. So the diet that we’re all being nagged to follow these days as a matter of course (protein with good fats, lots of vegetables, some fruits and complex carbohydrates) has the added bonus of stabilizing blood sugar and making us more resistant to stress.
If one is in need of a quick pick-me-up, which really isn't a bad idea especially in the mid-afternoon, the best snack is some protein plus complex carbs. The ideal snack is about 150 calories and is something like an apple plus a small piece of cheese, celery plus a little peanut butter, hummus with raw veggies, etc. That will keep your blood sugar more stable, and it does so with healthier foods as well.
And finally, we need to find a way to calm ourselves besides eating. I realize that this is easier said than done. Eating is pleasant, it takes very little time and it can often be combined with another activity. But particularly for people who are really suffering with chronic stress, either a simple meditation (just counting your breaths for 20 minutes) or exercise (particularly of the weight training variety) are both wonderful options. Exercise has the added bonus of burning off some of the muscle tension that occurs as a natural partt of the stress response and can be both energizing and relaxing.
--dr. diane holmes
Copyright © 2014
Last week I mentioned that one of the signs of food addiction is the use of food to control mood, most commonly to cope with stress. The reason that such a thing is even possible is simply because what you eat and how you eat it definitely affects your mental and emotional state. That's true of everyone, not just food addicts, but it isn't until you start combining unhealthy behavior with that very normal physiology that you run into trouble. Still, we know that food addicts are not on average more obese than the rest of the population -- that means that there must be ways to keep food addiction from getting out of control.
The body’s normal stress response is designed to deal with an immediately present danger of some kind (that's why it's also called the "fight or flight" response). It affects many systems of the body, it is very intense and most importantly, it is meant to be BRIEF. So everything that happens in the body in its stress response is meant to prepare it for combat or to run away – raising blood pressure to get more blood to the muscles, dilation of the pupils to improve clarity of vision, etc., etc. And it includes shutting down the digestive system to divert more blood to the brain and muscles, the logic being that digesting dinner can wait until after you've killed the tiger. Unfortunately, when that brief shutdown becomes prolonged (as it does under chronic stress, the kind we have these days), all kinds of problems can occur in the digestive system (among others), many of them because of inadequate blood flow. So eating a large meal, particularly one with a high fat content, diverts blood to the digestive system and compels some relaxation. That's one way that eating can influence stress.
Normal stress also raises blood sugar, which is then quickly used up. Low blood sugar produces hunger and something sweet will raise your blood sugar back up very quickly, so that’s what people usually end up eating. Unfortunately the spike in blood sugar that a sugary food can cause will often provoke a bit of over-reaction on the body’s part, resulting in your blood sugar quickly crashing again -- which forces your body to try to raise it back up with another stress response. And so it goes.
The stress response is normal. But it is meant to be brief. These days our stressors are not usually temporary, they are prolonged and very often dealing with them effectively is out of our control. We wind up with our bodies in hyper-alert mode all the time, and that wears us out. It’s only natural to want to relax, and in fact it's very necessary for continued good health to do so. But using food for that purpose can quickly become a problem in itself.
What can be done? Well, to start with, keeping one’s blood sugar as even and as close to normal as possible as a regular habit is a great idea. That way not only will you experience less stress (you won't be reacting regularly to low blood sugar), but when stress does occur it won't knock you so far off balance. Keeping blood sugar level is best done with a diet that includes as few processed foods as possible because pasta, sugar, flour all deliver a quick sugar high followed by a stressful crash. So the diet that we’re all being nagged to follow these days as a matter of course (protein with good fats, lots of vegetables, some fruits and complex carbohydrates) has the added bonus of stabilizing blood sugar and making us more resistant to stress.
If one is in need of a quick pick-me-up, which really isn't a bad idea especially in the mid-afternoon, the best snack is some protein plus complex carbs. The ideal snack is about 150 calories and is something like an apple plus a small piece of cheese, celery plus a little peanut butter, hummus with raw veggies, etc. That will keep your blood sugar more stable, and it does so with healthier foods as well.
And finally, we need to find a way to calm ourselves besides eating. I realize that this is easier said than done. Eating is pleasant, it takes very little time and it can often be combined with another activity. But particularly for people who are really suffering with chronic stress, either a simple meditation (just counting your breaths for 20 minutes) or exercise (particularly of the weight training variety) are both wonderful options. Exercise has the added bonus of burning off some of the muscle tension that occurs as a natural partt of the stress response and can be both energizing and relaxing.
--dr. diane holmes
Copyright © 2014