Does Stress Eating Actually Reduce Stress? Asking For A Friend.
Stress has caused just about all of us to change the way we eat, at some point or another in our lives. While some people lose their appetite and skip meals, others eat to help manage stress, swearing that tried-and-true comfort foods help them feel better.
According to the American Psychological Association, stress eating may cause people to feel “sluggish or lazy and feeling bad about their bodies.” Yet, stress eating remains common enough that there may be something to claim that it helps improve mood. Is there anything to these claims? And what can we do instead of eating to help us feel better?
Why do people eat when they are stressed?
There are three main reasons some people eat when under stress.
First, we are biologically programmed to eat when stressed, said Jacqueline Shiels, a clinical psychologist at Kaiser Permanente in Walnut Creek, California, who specializes in eating disorders and disordered eating. “Biologically, stress triggers cortisol, the stress hormone, which plays a role in appetite and cravings,” she explained. When under stress, eating is “our body’s way of coping with real or imagined threats.”
Dr. David Clarke, a specialist in treating stress-related medical conditions and past president of the Psychophysiologic Disorders Association, notes that the foods people often reach for to reduce stress such as “macaroni and cheese, chocolate, pizza, hamburgers, ice cream and cookies” are often “sweet and engineered to be satisfying.”
Second, social habits and cultural traditions lead us to crave familiar foods when we are under stress, Shiels said. “Most of us have paired food with our family and traditions including many positive emotions, which over time, have been linked to relaxation or reward.” In times of stress, or when we are in “flight or flight” mode, we “revert to what we know brings us joy or calmness,” she explained. According to Shiels, for many people, “a favorite snack may have been a way to reward oneself during tough times.” When this pattern is repeated enough, it “turns into another habit,” leading us to seek out foods that we associate with happier times when under stress.
Finally, there is a psychological component. “Food can be a temporary sense of comfort or distraction from stressful emotions,” Shiels explained. When we are stressed, “most of us want to feel good and calm” so we may seek to distract ourselves with something. People frequently turn to food they enjoy to help suppress “negative emotions.”
But does stress eating actually reduce stress?
Stress eating may “have an immediate impact on stress,” but the effects don’t last long, Shiels said. That’s because “suppressing negative emotions” through eating only works temporarily and does nothing to address the cause of the stress.
How stress eating helps alleviate stress in the short-term is complex, but comes down to four main factors.
First, eating certain foods has a biochemical effect that makes us feel better, Shiels said. Eating some types of foods, like carbohydrates, can “trigger the release of neurotransmitters like serotonin, which is often referred to as the ‘feel good’ hormone,” according to Shiels. This “may provide an immediate calming effect.”
Second, for some people, engaging in “routines and rituals” around preparing and eating a meal “can be a calming practice, and even multisensory, involving smell, taste, and texture, touch,” Shiels explained.
Third, being with others can help improve mood. “We know isolation can worsen mood, so calling a friend or loved one to share a meal can help with negative emotions, minimize stress, and improve overall well-being,” Shiels said.
Finally, eating can help regulate blood sugar, which will have a positive impact on mood and may help alleviate stress.
Is stress eating harmful?
Aside from the health impacts of eating unhealthy foods or mindless eating, there are other reasons to avoid stress eating. Avigail Lev, a licensed clinical psychologist at the Bay Area CBT Center, cautions that eating to reduce stress “feeds a certain emptiness inside, acting as a soothing mechanism.” However, if stress eating is used as a coping mechanism often enough it will “create a type of addiction” similar to alcoholism.
Stress eating “doesn’t truly help reduce stress in the long term,” Lev said. Although it may “feel good in the moment,” stress eating is harmful in the long run because it may become a bad habit, and can prolong addressing the root cause of the stress.
How can you tell if you are hungry or eating because of stress?
If you are stressed and start craving food, you may be hungry and not turning to food for comfort. It can be hard to tell the difference between “physical hunger versus cravings or emotional hunger,” Shiels said.
When you find yourself heading to the kitchen when under stress, Shiels recommends asking yourself “the last time you ate a balanced snack or meal to rule out physical hunger.” If it’s been a while since you had a real meal, you may be physically hungry and need to eat.
When eating while under stress, Clarke recommends checking “whether the food you are eating resembles what you normally eat” and checking “the quantity of what you are eating compared to your usual.” If you are eating junk food, or more of it, you are probably stress eating.
Shiels also suggests paying attention to how you act under stress over time. By paying attention to your patterns, when you are “more stressed or emotional,” you can identify whether you usually turn to food for comfort. If recognize stress eating as a pattern, it’s more likely that you are turning to food for comfort rather than hunger.
How can we avoid stress eating?
There are several ways to avoid stress eating.
Avoiding stress eating may start with eating better before you become stressed. “Staying consistent with one’s eating can help avoid the irritability and anxiety associated with low blood sugar,” and help reduce stress before it starts, Shiels said. She recommends choosing foods with “adequate macronutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, fiber, and fats” and “nourishing yourself with hydrating foods” to keep hunger under control and avoid getting “hangry.”
Additionally, before grabbing a bag of chips to help you cope, Shiels recommends “sitting with negative emotions and not judging them or trying to get rid of them” by eating. “That’s where the magic happens,” she said.
According to Shiels, gentle movement and exercise can also help put you in a better mood without food. Both “can help release endorphins which helps regulate hunger and emotions, too. It’s one of those win-wins,” she added.
For those who stress eat as a distraction, Shiels recommends doing something creative like drawing, gardening, painting, writing, or imagining yourself somewhere that “brings you calmness and joy.” She explains that “by activating the creative side of our brain, we can practice healthy distractions and stress reduction,” without relying on food.
Self-care, such as taking a warm bath, listening to music, starting a new book, taking a short walk, or journaling, can also help alleviate stress without resorting to eating.
If you know that you eat as a result of stress, Shiels recommends using a therapeutic skill called “cope ahead.” This involves “planning balanced options or non-food related coping skills before you need them,” she explained.
Finally, Shiels suggests limiting meals and snacks to one location, such as the kitchen table, to avoid mindless eating due to stress. If your stress drives you to eat while watching TV or working, you may overeat “to the point of guilt or shame,” which will cause more stress.
If you do find yourself stress eating, Lev recommends telling yourself, “It makes sense that I feel anxious or stressed,” so that you can address your stress rationally. Clarke suggests always giving yourself credit for what you have done well, and looking into psychotherapy if your stress levels are routinely so high that you are using unhealthy methods to cope.
