Physical hunger is an instinctive and protective metabolic event that provides the body with sufficient fuel to function. Physical hunger shows some changes in body chemical parameters, such as a decrease in blood sugar. Emotional hunger, on the other hand, is an emotional desire to eat away from the concepts of hunger and satiety, which is affected by mood changes. People with emotional eating disorder may want to satisfy their emotional hunger with food to feel good when they are happy, sad, angry or stressed. There can be many factors in the formation of emotional hunger. Stress, boredom, leisure time, childhood habits, reward-punishment history, social environment and irregular eating factors are factors that increase emotional hunger.
What Are the Symptoms of Emotional Hunger?
Physical hunger occurs gradually, it is gradual. Physical hunger signals that it is time to eat. Emotional hunger appears out of nowhere. Physical hunger shows physical symptoms such as stomach upset and rumbling. Emotional hunger starts suddenly and out of control in the brain.
When physical hunger reaches saturation, the person stops eating. In emotional hunger, although the stomach is full, the brain wants to be fed and cannot reach full saturation.
In emotional hunger, the sudden onset of hunger outside of meal times and the desire to fill these hungers with foods that are usually dense, sweet, carbohydrate or easy to access, such as faster food. Emotional hunger WANTS A SPECIFIC FOOD! You want to eat a specific food, such as chocolate, pasta or a hamburger. No one else can replace it!
In emotional hunger, the tolerance of sudden hunger crises is low and there is no feeling of satiety. In physical hunger, a small snack can suppress the feeling of hunger. In emotional hunger, the person cannot suppress the feeling of hunger with a snack. In physical hunger, the person reaches satiety and meets his need for food. In emotional hunger, there may be regret about what you eat after the act of eating. The feeling of regret and self-blame that comes with emotional hunger is inevitable and the person feels regret.
It enters a new eating cycle in order to close the emotional void it has created.
In physical hunger, one can wait for food. In emotional hunger, he can suddenly find himself in front of the refrigerator. Emotional hunger accompanies a feeling. “You had a problem with your boss,” “Your business is not going the way you want it to.” Emotional hunger often occurs in connection with a distressing situation.
Emotional hunger EATS EVEN WHEN NOT Hungry and INCLUDE EATING UNKNOWN. For example, you may not realize that you have eaten all of the 1 packet of cookies and chips.
Emotional eating increases the feeling of guilt about eating. The paradox of emotional eating begins here. You eat to feel better, later regret eating a cookie, cake, or hamburger, and look for compensation.
What Can We Do If We Have Emotional Eating Disorder?
You can start by exploring the emotions that trigger your emotional eating attacks. It is very important to gain awareness and develop coping methods in this regard. You may need to change your orientation towards triggering situations. Preparing a snack when you experience negative emotions
Instead, you can turn this behavior into doing sports or taking a walk in the sun, painting, listening to music, or singing.
Keep an exploration diary by keeping track of your eating times. When do you most want to eat? You can record what feelings you experienced, which foods you ate, or how much you ate. Rather than generalizing “I feel bad”, it is necessary to define feelings as “sadness, anxiety, anger” and see which situation leads us to snacks. For example, if you come home from work after a long day and find yourself eating a packet of chips, it could be a sign that a stress factor at work triggered you. When the desire to eat comes, a to-do list (watching movies, listening to music, etc.) that includes healthy coping methods can be created and can be used when the desire to eat comes.
Don’t suppress your emotions. Suppressed emotions do not disappear, they come to light in different forms. You can search for ways to express it in a healthy way. If you have a weight problem caused by emotional eating behavior, it may be a good idea to consult a dietitian and go to a health checkup. But don’t set yourself a weight loss goal when trying to establish a healthy eating routine.
Many of us can eat something arbitrarily, even if we are not hungry from time to time. However, if the frequency of these arbitrary eating starts to increase and negative emotions such as sadness, stress, and anger are followed by a tendency to sugary, fatty and floury foods, it can be said that emotional eating attacks are experienced. Chic
If you start and stop dieting frequently, have difficulty coping with your negative emotions, have had unsuccessful diet attempts, your health has begun to endanger, and you say you can’t stop yourself while eating, it may be beneficial to seek psychotherapy support and support from a nutritionist.
exp. Ps. From. Zehra EZER
