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Motivation and emotion/Book/2021/Emotional eating

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Emotional eating:
What is emotional eating and what effect does it have on emotion and health?

Overview

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Case study: the beginning

Aurora is almost at the end of her first semester of university. She struggled to adapt to university and was feeling a lot of pressure since she was the first in her family to attend tertiary education. As she was getting closer and closer to the end, she noticed that she had put on some significant weight as compared to the start of the year. She decided to look into some options for help.

Emotional eating is the act of engaging with food when a negative emotion makes itself present (Adriaanse et al., 2011). This chapter discusses eating, emotional eating and its connection to emotions and health.

Focus questions:

  • What is emotional eating?
  • What effect does emotional eating have on emotion?
  • What effect does emotional eating have on health?

Why do we eat?

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Figure 1. Different types of food

Eating is a necessary element to human survival and it has the ability to give pleasure (Gahagan, 2012). When eating is perturbed, it can lead to undernutrition, over nutrition and a wide variety of eating disorders. There is a sophisticated biological system in place to promote energy balance in the body. When there is an energy deficit, ghrelin, a peptide, is released from the stomach to help stimulate appetite. Once eating has been completed, pancreatic insulin, intestinal peptide YY and leptin are released to decrease the stimulation of appetite (Gahagan, 2012). Although this in place system exists, humans have the capacity to override this, meaning that consumption behaviours are often independent from the physiological needs (Gahagan, 2012). Factors such as altering emotional states or social settings can be a motivator to either eat or not eat (Renner et al., 2012).

What is emotional eating?

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Emotional eating is often characterised as the tendency to overeat in response to negative emotions such as anxiety or irritability (Adriaanse et al., 2011). Negative emotions can induce eating because of its capability to reduce the intensity of the negative emotions (Macht & Simons, 2010). Generally, individuals are assessed for emotional eating by self-reported tests (Adriaanse et al., 2011). An example of these tests is the Emotional Eating Scale by Arnow, Kenardy & Agras or the Emotional Overeating Questionnaire by Masheb & Grilo (Adriaanse et al., 2011). A problem with these tests is that the characteristics specified in these tests differ from test to test, but a main characteristic that is recognised by many psychologists is that these individuals report that they eat not only to satisfy hunger, but additionally when they’re feeling emotional (Adriaanse et al., 2011). On one hand, psychologists acknowledge that emotional eating is pretty common with the exception that the amount of food an individual eats differs from each individual (Macht & Simons, 2010). On the other hand, some psychologists believe that emotional eating is an inapt[spelling?] reaction to negative emotions since it is also common for negative emotions to cause a loss of appetite and a decrease in food intake (Spoor et al., 2007). There are a few mechanisms and theories that are believed to instigate the cause of emotional eating. First we consider a combination of psychological mechanisms and physiological mechanisms (Macht & Simons, 2010). The psychological aspect is that during the ingestion of food, there is a response of a strong sense of pleasure that is released which improves the emotional state (Macht & Simons, 2010). The physiological aspect of this combination is that after the ingestion of food, nutrients in the food may affect neurochemical and endocrine systems that have a connection to emotions (Macht & Simons, 2010). Another mechanism would be the suggestion of poor [what?] regulation practices (Spoor et al., 2007). Unfortunately, there are still some gaps in research in regards to the cause of emotional eating processes as the characteristics differ from case to case (Adriaanse et al., 2011).

Emotional Hunger vs. Physical Hunger (Smith et al., 2020)
Emotional hunger Physical hunger
Comes on suddenly Comes on gradually
Needs to be satisfied straight away Can wait
Craves comfort foods Open to options
Isnt satisfied when full Will stop when stomach is full
Triggers negative feelings Associated with feelings of satisfaction

Case study: the middle

Upon talking to a doctor about her mysterious weight gain, Aurora was asked to take a self-reported test. As she was progressing through the questionnaire, it became clear to the doctor that Aurora had been using food as a coping mechanism to the negative emotions she was feeling throughout the semester, creating food habits she did not have previously.

Eating and emotions

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Figure 2. Emotional eating cycle

Emotional eating generally occurs when negative emotions arise (Adriaanse et al., 2011). There are a few theories surrounding the mechanism of poor regulation practices (Spoor et al., 2007). Psychosomatic theory states that individuals partake in emotional eating when they feel a negative emotion because they have learned that food assists in alleviating the unwanted emotion (Spoor et al., 2007). Similar to this, escape theory states that individuals partake in emotional eating because they are attempting to shift their attention from their emotional state and on to the food they are consuming (Spoor et al., 2007).

A common negative emotion is stress. Stress is defined as a feeling of emotional or physical tension (A.D.A.M., 2021). It usually manifests during an event or thought that causes an individual to feel frustrated, angry or nervous (A.D.A.M., 2021). In small doses, stress can be beneficial as it is the body’s response to challenges and demands but when stress lasts a long time, it can be detrimental to the health of that individual (A.D.A.M., 2021). In regards to stress, coping is a process that is an attempt to manage stressful demands and the emotions that accompany them (Spoor et al., 2007). Three main techniques for coping with stress include a task-orientated approach, an emotion-oriented approach and an avoidance approach (Spoor et al., 2007). When an individual is feeling a great deal of stress, the body releases a high level of the stress hormone, cortisol, which cause the body to crave foods that give a burst of energy and pleasure (Smith et al., 2020). When eating becomes the primary source of emotional regulation, often individuals find themselves trapped in an emotional eating cycle (figure 2) (Smith et al., 2020). When the negative emotion arises, they turn to food for comfort (Smith et al., 2020). Unfortunately, emotional eating can become overeating and, in turn, the individual then feels guilty about the food they have consumed, causing another negative emotion to arise, kickstarting the cycle again (Smith et al., 2020). This engagement with food can cause real problems to an individual’s health (Smith et al., 2020).

Eating and health

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Although emotional eating isn’t necessarily bad; however, when excessive, it can pose great risks to an individual’s health (Smith et al., 2020). For the human body to thrive, it is a necessity that it has access to the correct amount of food and nutrients (WHO, 2021). Emotional eating can cause an individual to create unhealthy eating habits such as overeating and the overconsumption of one particular food (Adriaanse et al., 2011). In some cases, these habits can lead to severe eating disorders (Adriaanse et al., 2011). Overall, emotional eating can be extremely detrimental to the health of the individual in both a physical and mental sense (Adriaanse et al., 2011).

Self-regulation

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Figure 3. A cup of tea

According to the work by Smith and colleagues (2020), the first step in learning to regulate emotional eating is recognising that the act occurs when negative emotions arise. Once this acknowledgment has been made, it is advised that whenever the need to grab usual comfort food arises, backtracking and investigating what the initial trigger could be and to take not of it for future reference. Forcing oneself to take measures such as diets will not allow the individual to properly gain control of their eating habits, instead eating habits can be best regulated by finding a distraction when the cravings become demanding. Such distractions could be: going for walks, drinking a cup of tea, calling a friend or engaging in an activity that brings you joy. These will ensure that the attention has been shifted away from food and will eventually become natural habits. It is okay to engage with the negative emotions, it is just a matter of taking that energy and putting it into something that will not cause any harm (Smith et al., 2020).

Case study: the end

After having that conversation with her doctor, Aurora began taking note of all the times she felt triggered to eat. She found that when she was having problems engaging with her university content, she would feel the urge to eat. Now Aurora goes for a walk near her home whenever she feels this way and is beginning to see a significant difference in her food consumption.

Conclusion

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Emotional eating is the act of engaging with food when a negative emotion makes itself present (Adriaanse et al., 2011). Although the act of emotional eating is instigated by emotion, emotional eating effects emotions, especially in reference to the emotional eating cycle shown in figure 1 (Smith et al., 2020; Spoor et al., 2007). It starts with the negative emotions but those emotions can become stronger at the hand of emotional eating (Smith et al., 2020). In turn, this cycle then plays a role in health (Smith et al., 2020). Emotional eating causes unhealthy eating habits that can pose a threat to the health of the individual (Adriaanse et al., 2011). It is important to acknowledge your emotions (Smith et al., 2020), find coping mechanisms that help you respond to the negative emotions (Spoor et al., 2007) and seek help if it becomes too much for you to deal with (Smith et al., 2020).

See also

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References

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A.D.A.M. (2021). Stress and your health. Medline Plus. 20 October 2021, from https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003211.htm.

Adriaanse, M., de Ridder, D., & Evers, C. (2010). Emotional eating: Eating when emotional or emotional about eating?. Psychology and Health, 26(1), 23-39. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870440903207627

Gahagan, S. (2012). Development of Eating Behavior. Journal Of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 33(3), 261-271. https://doi.org/10.1097/dbp.0b013e31824a7baa

Kaye, W. (2021). Health Consequences. National Eating Disorders. 29 August 2021, from https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/health-consequences.

Macht, M., & Simons, G. (2010). Emotional Eating. Emotion Regulation and Well-Being, 281-295. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6953-8_17

Petersson, S., Gullbing, L., & Perseius, K. (2021). Just like fireworks in my brain – a Swedish interview study on experiences of emotions in female patients with eating disorders. Journal Of Eating Disorders, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-021-00371-2

Renner, B., Sproesser, G., Strohbach, S., & Schupp, H. (2012). Why we eat what we eat. The Eating Motivation Survey (TEMS). Appetite, 59(1), 117-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2012.04.004

Smith, M., Robinson, L., Segal, J., & Segal, R. (2020). Emotional Eating. HelpGuide.org. Retrieved 29 August 2021, from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/diets/emotional-eating.htm#.

Spoor, S., Bekker, M., Van Strien, T., & van Heck, G. (2007). Relations between negative affect, coping, and emotional eating. Appetite, 48(3), 368-376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2006.10.005

WHO. (2021). Nutrition. World Health Organization. 20 October 2021, from https://www.who.int/health-topics/nutrition.

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