Grappling with stress-eating? Here’s how to make it healthier

Emotional eating is an inevitable outcome of stress. Instead of making it a bad habit, we find out how to manage it mindfully

The problem with stress-eating is, you hardly ever realise you’re doing it, or that it’s actually stress that’s causing you to crave certain foods. “If a person thrives on stress, they might not realise that stress is an issue until there is a health concern,” says Dawn Brighid, a Brooklyn-based integrative nutritionist. While there might be various contributing factors that lead to brain fog, insomnia, high blood pressure or obesity, stress almost always exacerbates them. If you’re not sure, or don’t usually thrive on stress, Brighid suggests looking for signs like anxiety, running thoughts, constant worry, unexplained weight gain or poor sleep, that might tip you off that something in your life is stressing you out and it’s time to address it.

A common by-product of stress is emotional eating. Food cravings are inevitable, and it’s okay to reach for ‘comfort foods’ until it becomes a habit or a subconscious cycle you can’t break. If done often—and every time we are sad, stressed or bored—our brain gets trained to instinctively repeat it the next time.

Inversely, there can be ways to reverse what we’ve trained our brain into considering comfort-givers that could potentially have a negative impact on our physical and mental wellbeing in the long run. Instead of turning stress-eating into a bad habit, understanding why it happens and how to manage it mindfully can make it healthier, that is, after we’ve tried to not get to that point anyway. 

Why do we stress-eat?

The human body is a network of complex systems working together  harmoniously to keep us healthy, managed by the brain and the nervous system. “When the body perceives stress from an event—physical or mental—it jumps into gear to manage it,” says Brighid. The brain sends signals to our adrenal glands, located atop our kidneys, to release a range of hormones to get us into ‘fight-or-flight’ mode–“this is a healthy, normal bodily response,” she explains.

Brighid also confirms that the release of cortisol, a stress hormone, into our bloodstream to regulate the body’s response to stress is actually a good thing. Cortisol increases sugars in the bloodstream and activates the brain’s use of glucose, curbs the functions that could be harmful during flight-or-flight mode, and communicates with the regions of the brain that control our mood, emotions and eating patterns. “Soon after the stressful episode, the body returns to a natural, calm state. But if we stay in a constant stressful state, this mechanism can backfire and cause problems rather than solve them,” adds Brighid. 

If we are constantly stressed, our body’s defence mode is always on, dampening the effects of increased cortisol and insulin levels. “Constant raised cortisol levels can cause an increase in appetite and cravings for comfort foods over an extended period of time, leading to weight gain and deposits of body fat,” she says. We eat when we’re stressed even though we’re not hungry, often craving foods that are sweet or salty, because they generate quick energy for our body to handle the stressful situation. “Sugar and carbs will give your body that energy boost [so we crave them], but will ultimately lead to an energy drop, creating the need for another quick fix,” explains Brighid. Comfort foods might actually comfort us, she says. “These foods can elicit an emotional response, like a memory of your grandmother’s mashed potatoes, or can cause a reward response releasing dopamine, which makes us feel good.” 

However, junk food, like sweets, fried foods and chips can cause a variety of ill effects on both the body and mind. “Overeating these foods can lead to chronic metabolic diseases such as weight gain, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, blood sugar dysregulation and diabetes,” says Brighid. It can also lead to depression and anxiety through various mechanisms. “A person might feel guilt or shame after eating a ‘bad’ food or experience blood sugar dysregulation that contributes to the feelings of depression and anxiety.” Finding alternative ways to deal with stress, then, is perhaps our best bet. 

How to curb your cravings 

We can ‘re-train’ our brains to crave healthier foods through these simple techniques:

Address the issue: The first step towards craving healthy foods is addressing the source of our unhealthy cravings, says Brighid. Is it poor sleep, stress or a nutrient deficiency? Identify what’s causing these patterns and imbalances and how to eliminate them from your life, then focus on mindfully tweaking your habits. “A nutrient-rich diet is full of proteins, vegetables and healthy fats, while limiting sugars and processed carbohydrates, which are often the cause of blood sugar dysregulation and the craving cycle for more sweet foods. By reducing or eliminating the sugars/carbs in your daily diet, your palate will adjust and your cravings will diminish,” explains Brighid. 

Become more aware of your actions: There are many options besides reaching for that jar of cookies when we are stressed–choices that will support our overall wellbeing. Once you are mindful and aware of reaching for unhealthy foods, says Dawn, you can make different choices. “First, stop and take a deep breath and congratulate yourself for catching your old habit in practice. In fact, take five deep breaths, then have a glass of water. Get outside and take a walk around the block. These actions will get you out of your usual habits,” she adds. If you still crave comfort foods, keep healthier options that you find yummy, handy.

Remind yourself why you are doing this: Brighid urges us to be mindful, gentle and patient with ourselves, “It’s important to remember why you are making these changes—you want to feel better, have more energy and support long-term health. While eating a sugary snack gives you a momentary boost, it leads to a dip in energy levels, followed by a need for more junk food. This cycle can lead to many health issues.”

Healthy yet delicious 

We all tend to eat in response to emotions, stress or boredom. Accepting that food cravings are normal and using mindfulness techniques to acknowledge and become aware of them is the first step towards a healthier switch. Step two is adding these healthier switches to our daily diets to re-train our brains into craving them instead. “If you cook, pick your favourite comfort food and look at how you can improve upon the ingredients,” says Brighid. Cauliflower mash, kale chips, roasted sweet potato fries with a tahini drizzle, chia seed pudding, cauliflower crust pizza—get creative in the kitchen. She recommends switching to healthier oils like olive oil or avocado oil, better flours such as nut flours, and be conscious of the form of cooking—for instance, baked versus fried—to improve your meal, but keep that feeling of comfort. “Grab nutrient-rich alternatives to snack on, like a handful of nuts and seeds, olives, fruit with nut better, 80 per cent dark chocolate, dips like guacamole with grain-free crackers or low-sugar protein bars,” she adds. The list can be endless, and is ours to make, follow and crave.

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