Emotional Eating at Diet Trials : Paul McKenna

Emotional Eating

Published by Diet Trials January 17th, 2006 in Theory, Week 2, Paul McKenna SkyOne

Emotional eating is when we eat when we are not really hungry. Unlike physical hunger that comes on gradually, emotional hunger can come on instantly and is related to stress or emotions. It was put to us that to be able to gain control over what we eat we must come to terms with what is causing us to eat emotionally or unconsciously. You have to deal with your emotions first.

The body’s brain is a very important factor why we suddenly have the urge to eat. If we have the overwhelming urge to eat something sweet or stodgy it is the brain that is urging us to eat foods high in carbohydrates so that it will cause the brain to release serotonin which will help us relax and feel calm. It is a vicious circle as the brain will crave certain high carb foods which will make us feel better due to the chemical released, but then we will want that feeling again.

Another chemical that is released is dopamine, the brain’s pleasure chemical, which causes us to have the great urge for ceratin foods as this can become quite addictive. This sort of answered the reason why I can eat a large bar of Dairy Milk chocolate in one go, totally unconsciously. I am obviously making myself feel better by doing this. It is something I have never really thought about before in this way, but I do have cravings in this sense.