Many Americans are really stressed out right now. When we’re emotionally overwhelmed, it probably feels natural to reach for a bag of chips. But we’re probably wrong about how stress affects our eating habits, a psychologist says.
What does that mean for our waistlines?
Stress eating has long been associated with overeating, but that’s a basic misunderstanding, said Dr. Kristin Javaras, an associate psychologist at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Maybe we’re not eating as much as we think.
Much of what we know about stress eating is based on cultural cliches such as TV shows, movies or social media. Research on the behavior is mostly from surveys that rely on people remembering what they ate when going through tough times.
The problem with those surveys, Jarvaras said, is people’s perceptions often change when they’re stressed, so it can be hard for anyone to accurately describe how their eating behavior was affected.
“You don’t actually eat more, but you think you eat more when you’re stressed simply because you think the amount is larger,” said Javaras, who recently presented some of her findings in a Brain & Behavior Research Foundation webinar.
In other words, people remember the moment of a breakup and then eating ice cream.
“But you don’t think of all the other times you’re actually stressed at work and ate less,” she adds.
Many people actually do eat less when they’re acutely stressed, especially as the severity of the situation increases, in part because they may not have as much time to eat.
Past research has shown approximately 40% people eat more when stressed, 40% eat less and 20% don’t change their eating habits.
When stress can lead to hunger
When the body is under chronic stress, cortisol levels rise, which not only stimulates appetite but also can promote fat storage, particularly in the abdominal area, said Dr. Christopher McGowan, a gastroenterologist and obesity specialist who runs True You Weight Loss in Cary, North Carolina.
“It also disrupts sleep, which further exacerbates cravings and metabolic dysfunction,” he said.
At that point, people often turn to comfort foods that are high in fat and sugar, which triggers the pleasure center of our brain to release dopamine, providing a temporary sense of relief, McGowan said. That relief is short-lived, often followed by guilt or regret.
And comfort food may not actually provide as much comfort as you think.
A prior study concluded comfort food does not on average reduce stress, finding no difference in healthy women participants when they replaced unhealthy comfort foods with fruits and vegetables.
How to avoid overeating and counteract cravings
“The more we eat in response to emotion, the stronger the connection between that emotion and the craved food — making our stress eating response more ingrained over time,” said Rachel Gargano, the chief registered dietitian at a private practice.
“Cravings usually last about 20 to 30 minutes, so if you can get through these initial intense, often overwhelming feelings, they usually begin to subside and become more manageable,” she said.
Each person has specific triggers, like being alone at home and seeing or smelling favorite foods that may start the process of overeating, Gargano said.
She recommends keeping a journal to document when cravings start, then categorizing them as physical hunger or emotional hunger, depending on the situation.
“If it’s been longer than three or four hours since your last meal, then it’s possible that your body needs a quality, balanced snack or meal,” she said.
If you realize you’re not hungry and it’s just “emotional hunger,” it’s time to try distraction.
“Replacing stress eating with even short bursts of physical activity can be a powerful shift toward long-term well-being,” McGowan adds.
Exercise helps regulate the body’s stress response, lowers baseline cortisol levels, boosts mood, improves sleep quality and supports both physical and metabolic health, he adds.
Alternative options to distract yourself include reading a chapter of your favorite book, going for a quick walk, sitting outside or doing 15 minutes of yoga.
Gargano encourages developing an “anti-cravings tool kit,” which can include:
- Not skipping regular meals.
- Getting enough fiber in the diet. Women need about 25 grams daily and men need 35 grams.
- Getting enough protein each day. (About 30 to 40 grams per meal.)
- Drinking plenty of fluids. If you aim for about half your weight in ounces per day and add more if it’s hot out or if you’re exercising more than an hour, your body won’t confuse thirst for hunger.
- Get at least seven hours of sleep, although eight is optimal.
“The more you’re able to get through a craving without giving in, the more you’re retraining your brain to not need food as a Band-Aid,” Gargano said.
Dr. Joanna Steinglass, director of research at the Center for Eating Disorders at NewYork-Presbyterian, said surveys are still helpful for researchers to understand how general increases in stress contribute to more challenges with eating, including whether they lead to any increases in eating disorders.
Finally, if you stress eat once in a blue moon, don’t worry about it, Javaras said.
“I always tell people, don’t stress yourself out further by being like, ‘Oh, my goodness, I was stressed one day and I ate a little more,’” Javaras said.
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