Emotional Eating: Our Feelings Can Trigger Eating

Emotional Eating is eating that is triggered by stress and other uncomfortable emotions. Eating has become an unhealthy way for the person to deal with their emotions during stressful events. Boredom, sadness or a major life change can all lead to emotional eating in varying degrees. Some people will only occasionally eat when stressed but some compulsively overeat until it takes over their life.

Many people eat occasionally out of boredom. If you frequently eat when you think there is nothing else to do, sit down with a pen and paper and make a list of 10-15 non-food activities that you enjoy. These can be simple things like reading a book or going for a walk. Put this list on your refrigerator or any place you will see it often. When you feel bored and want to eat, look at the list and pick an activity from it. If you start to feel that you have become socially isolated, call a friend or family member to make an appointment to get out. Just a few simple lifestyle changes can make a big difference in how much you eat—and how you feel about yourself. If you are frequently eating to deal with uncomfortable emotions and can’t stop, contact a registered dietitian or mental health counselor for help dealing with these feelings.

To find a Registered Dietitian near you, visit www.eatright.org and click on Find a Nutrition Professional.

Appetite: Social Cues That Determine Our Eating

Physical hunger is only one reason we eat. Sometimes we eat out of boredom or everyone else around us is eating. Eating that is triggered by social cues is called appetite. Appetite generally is eating for reasons that are outside of your physical need for food. Physical hunger comes from your internal, biological need for energy.

Many of the social cues to eat are learned during childhood and stay with us for the rest of our lives. Certain events can trigger us to want to eat certain foods such as a holiday party triggering us to eat our favorite holiday desserts. Most people view eating as a social activity so we like to eat when everyone else is eating. In these situations most of us ignore our physical hunger --and fullness--cues.

During such events the hunger scale is a good tool to use to keep from overeating. Check in with yourself frequently and determine how hungry you are. Try to pace yourself during the event. Choose your favorite foods but avoid becoming painfully stuffed. This can be done by eating slowly and keeping track of how much you eat. If you feel you want to eat everything, ask the host to make up a plate of the things you can do without on the day of the party, and eat them the next day.

The Hunger Scale, Part 2

To use the hunger scale, check in with yourself and ask “how hungry am I?” Sometimes people do not feel hunger in their stomach but have other feelings, such as a headache or almost overwhelming thoughts of food (the famished stage). Learn your own personal cues and use these numbers to help determine when you need to eat. Usually the best time to eat is the 1-2 range. Never let yourself become so famished that you might pass out. This only causes overeating when you do have a meal. While you eat, check in with yourself and ask “how full am I?” Stop eating once you get to about the 3-4 range. You should feel satisfied but not stuffed.

Eat slowly. Most people become painfully stuffed because they eat too quickly and their brains do not get the signal that they are satisfied until they have consumed too much food. By slowing down eating the brain will be able to register the food in your stomach and signal you to stop before you eat too much. The brain knows how much food your body needs. Pay close attention to its signals. Keep in mind that most people need to eat every 3-4 hours. The hunger scale numbers are very useful to record in a food journal. You will learn your personal hunger cues and preferred eating patterns, and if you are eating for reasons other than physical hunger.

The Hunger Scale, Part 1

The hunger scale is a number system that allows you to determine how hungry you feel at any given time. Before explaining how to use this scale we must first explain what hunger is. Hunger is the physical sign that you need to eat. It can manifest in many ways, from a rumbling and subtle ache in your stomach to severe stomach pain, developing a headache, becoming irritable and feeling like you will pass out. These sensations are the internal cues that you need to eat food. Many people either ignore these signals or don’t know how to decide when they need to eat. This scale helps to determine how hungry you are and when it is the right time to eat. It also teaches you when to stop eating.

The hunger scale ranges from 0-5. It is a very good tool to use when learning what physical hunger feels like and when to eat. Here is the breakdown for each number:
0- Completely famished, you feel very irritable, have a severe ache in your stomach, have a headache, feel shaky and are ready to pass out.
1- Moderately hungry, you have rumbling in your stomach and a moderate ache, you feel you need to eat now.
2- Slightly hungry, the hunger pangs in your stomach and thoughts of food begin but you can wait to eat.
3- Not hungry and not full, you feel satisfied. This can be considered a neutral feeling.
4- Full but not uncomfortably stuffed
5- Painfully stuffed, you feel sick and think your stomach might burst.

In Part 2, I will discuss how to use the hunger scale.

The Glycemic Load, Part 2

Glycemic load may fix the issues the glycemic index brought up but that does make it the most effective way of keeping blood sugar in the healthy range. To control blood glucose levels, a person needs to eat a consistent amount of high fiber carbohydrates throughout the day. Glycemic Load does not teach how to do this. Counting carbohydrate grams is the only real effective way to control blood sugar for someone with diabetes.

For a healthy person, glycemic load is not as important to track. It is best to choose high fiber carbohydrate foods such as whole grain breads/cereals, and fruits/vegetables for someone with and without diabetes. If you are healthy, you do not need to worry about how carbohydrates affect your blood sugar levels. Your only focus needs to be on prevention by maintaining a healthy weight and eating a wide range of nutrient dense foods. This will reduce the risk of a healthy person developing diabetes and other related health problems.

For more information, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_load, http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/estimated-glycemic-load, and http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/carbohydrates-and-the-glycemic-load/index.html.

The Glycemic Load, Part 1

The glycemic load attempts to resolve the questions that the glycemic index brings up concerning mixed foods, portion sizes and carbohydrate amounts in food. This system uses the standard serving size of a given food—an amount a person is more likely to eat-- and measures the impact the carbohydrate in the food has on blood sugar. The glycemic load is considered more reliable than the glycemic index since it takes into account the amount of carbohydrate in a standard portion size.

Glycemic load is calculated by multiplying its glycemic index by the amount of carbohydrate it contains then dividing the total amount by 100. So a fruit, such as watermelon, which has a high glycemic index, when analyzed using glycemic load is found to not to have a large impact on blood sugar. It is commonly known that watermelon contains mostly water and has only a small amount of carbohydrate.

Glycemic load, similar to the glycemic index, is broken up into three categories of low, medium and high. 1-10 is considered low, 11-19 is considered medium and 20 or more is considered high. Typically, the lower the glycemic load, the less impact the food will have on blood sugar levels. Using this scale, fruits and vegetables that are considered high glycemic index foods are no longer banned. When analyzed, they are found to be low glycemic load foods, with small amounts of carbohydrate and have little impact on blood sugar levels.

For more information, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_load, http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/estimated-glycemic-load, and http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/carbohydrates-and-the-glycemic-load/index.html.

The Glycemic Index, Part 2

The glycemic index can seem like a useful tool for a person with diabetes. However, there are problems with this system. The index does not take into consideration that every body is different and will process food differently. For example, the body will process food in a different way early in the morning than late at night. Also, an individual’s metabolism will react differently depending on the portion size a person eats. Portion size is never addressed in the glycemic index food analysis. Portions are important because eating a large amount of a food with raise blood sugar more than eating a smaller amount.

Another problem with this index is it does not effectively rate mixed foods and its impact on blood sugar. Eating a high glycemic food with a low glycemic food will slow down the rate blood sugar increases from the high glycemic food. For example, a person eats a piece of white bread with peanut butter on it. The white bread is a high glycemic index food but the peanut butter will slow down the rise in blood sugar. Peanut butter is a low glycemic food that contains protein and fat. The index does not effectively account for mixing high and low glycemic index foods.

A third problem with the glycemic index is it does not measure how much carbohydrate in actually in the rated food. For example, a watermelon has a high glycemic index but it is made up of mostly water. It would not affect blood sugar the way a piece of plain white bread would. Consistant carbohydrate intake is very important for people with diabetes. The glycemic index does not address the amount of carbohydrates in the rated foods and this makes it confusing for most people -- and could be potentially harmful for people with diabetes. In light of these concerns, the American Diabetes Association does not recommend the Glycemic index as an effective tool for someone trying to control their blood sugar.

For more information visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_index, http://www.mendosa.com/gi.htm, and https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods.htm.