Stress Eating: What Causes It and How to Overcome It

Food, glorious food. The Lord has blessed us with many things, one of which is food. After blessing the first humans and commissioning them to be faithful stewards over His creation, the Lord instructed them on where to find food, a necessity for their survival (Genesis 1:28-30). Then we read, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31, NIV). Food is a part of that “very good”.

However, it would be painting a skewed picture to leave matters at that. The Fall of humanity occurred, and our connection to the Lord, ourselves, each other, and between ourselves and the non-human created world was severely disrupted (Genesis 3). As Paul puts it, the creation is in “bondage to decay” (Romans 8:21, NIV). One implication is that our bodies and food may not naturally be in a harmonious relationship.

Stress eating is one of the ways we can relate to food and ourselves in an unhealthy and unbalanced way. Understanding what stress eating is, why we do it, how it affects us, and the ways to overcome it can help you manage life challenges more constructively.

Stress Eating in Brief

Commonly, we often talk about comfort eating, but it is also referred to as stress eating or emotional eating. One reason the term ‘emotional eating’ can be helpful is that it leaves room for the different emotional states that could be at the root of why we’re eating to satisfy something other than our hunger. A person can ‘eat’ their feelings, and that includes emotional states such as anxiety, sadness, or stress.

When a person eats to cope with their stress or other emotional states, that’s marked by a few characteristics. Typically, they will crave comfort foods. These are foods that are high in salt, fat, or sugar content. Stress eating is about using food as a coping mechanism, and often, the eating is not about satisfying hunger. Another characteristic is that there’s often a loss of control, making it hard to stop or limit one’s food intake.

As the eating isn’t strictly related to physical hunger, stress eating will often lead a person past satiation. This can cause significant health issues in the short term as well as down the line.

Why We Stress Eat

Stress eating can be a huge challenge, and to tackle it, you need to understand why we turn to food to relieve emotional distress. Several factors may be at play to explain why we stress eat. Stress eating is about using food to manage feelings of stress. In other words, food functions as a coping mechanism to manage the unpleasantness of stress, sadness, or anxiety.

Stress releases the hormone cortisol, and that hormonal response can increase one’s appetite and cravings for comfort food. Depending on the type and duration of stress, stress can activate the brain’s reward system, making you more sensitive to rewards like dopamine, which make comfort foods appealing. Stress eating feels good, providing temporary relief or comfort from stressors.

We also stress eat because it’s something we’ve learned to do. Foods high in sugar, fat, and salt activate the brain’s reward system, which releases dopamine, and then we begin to associate those foods with pleasure. These foods become associated with positive emotions and memories connected with relaxation, comfort, or feeling good. It increases the likelihood of stress eating at a future date.

Another factor that also makes it likely to stress eat is the lack of other, healthier coping mechanisms. If you don’t have other stress-management techniques handy, it may be easier to turn to food for a quick fix.

The combination of environmental, biological, and emotional factors may make it challenging to resist your cravings for comfort foods when you’re experiencing stress or other difficult emotional states. Though stress eating can provide you with temporary relief, ultimately, it may lead to negative consequences such as unplanned weight gain, feelings of guilt, or worsened mental health.

How Stress Eating Affects You

On that note, highlighting how stress eating affects you can provide you with important information about the cost of stress eating. Pointing out the negative effects of stress eating isn’t necessarily enough to turn things around, but it can be helpful. Naming these effects can, for instance, help you to identify and process your experiences after stress eating. Stress eating can affect you emotionally, mentally, physically, and relationally.

One of the ways that stress eating affects an individual includes impacting their physical health. It can lead to digestive issues, particularly when you eat beyond feeling full, and it can result in unplanned weight gain. With weight gain come other concerns, such as decreased mobility and an increased risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiac disease.

Stress eating can also affect your emotional well-being. When you stress-eat, the lack of control and sheer excess of it all can lead to feelings of guilt and shame. You may even become anxious about your eating habits and what they are doing to you. Stress eating can worsen conditions like anxiety and depression, impacting your mental health as well.

How you perceive yourself matters. Feelings of guilt or shame from stress eating may result in low confidence or a negative self-image. When your self-esteem takes a knock, that can affect how you perform and are in your relationships, at work, and in other contexts. This may, in turn, fuel further distress, which can turn into emotional eating to cope, feeding a seemingly endless cycle.

Another possible effect of stress eating is that it can affect your relationships. Dealing with conflict by stress eating won’t resolve matters; it may result in deepening the conflict. If a person hides their stress eating, that can also introduce strain into the relationship. The cycle of emotional distress that stress eating can create makes it harder to manage emotions and stress effectively. This can make conducting a healthy relationship more challenging.

Managing and Overcoming Stress Eating

When you recognize the impact of stress eating on your life, that could be a good first step toward seeking help and cultivating healthier coping mechanisms that won’t undermine your well-being. Some of the strategies that can effectively help you to manage and overcome stress eating include the following:

Identify triggers Whether through journaling or reflection, it’s possible to identify and learn to recognize the emotions, situations, events, or experiences that lead to stress eating. Perhaps for you it’s a hard workday, or it could be a relationship conflict that leads to stress eating. Maybe it’s having tight deadlines or struggling to connect with loved ones. Keeping a food diary may help you track your habits.

Eat regular, balanced meals When you eat regularly and your meals are balanced, this can help you reduce cravings and maintain relatively stable levels of energy. Good nutrition helps your emotional, mental, and physical well-being, which can all contribute to better emotional regulation. Doing this requires planning, including having healthy snacks and meals available to avoid eating impulsively.

Practice mindful eating Mindfulness is all about being fully present in whatever situation you’re in. When you’re mindful about your eating, you pay attention to cues such as whether you’re hungry or full, eat your food slowly instead of wolfing it down, and take the time to savor your food and the process of preparing it. These are small ways to build a healthy relationship with your food.

Develop self-care habits Making self-care a priority, whether that’s getting enough sleep, doing regular exercise, spending time with loved ones, doing hobbies, or taking time to rest and relax, all helps to reduce stress levels. The more you perform and enjoy these activities, the easier it’ll be to turn to them in times of stress instead of to food for comfort.

Challenge your thoughts There’s a place for challenging your negative thoughts, particularly the ones that can lead you toward food as a source of comfort. Whether it’s thoughts encouraging one more bite or thoughts that are self-disparaging, they can and should be challenged. Apply what you know is true to address your emotional eating patterns and nurture a healthy relationship with yourself and your food.

Seek support and professional help Don’t suffer in silence about stress or your eating habits. Embarrassment, guilt, or shame shouldn’t stand in the way of your seeking the help you need. Talk to wise and trusted loved ones about what you’re going through. You can also consult professionals, whether a registered dietitian or nutritionist, or a counselor who can give you guidance in addressing harmful thought patterns.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 10:31, NIV). It’s possible to develop a healthier relationship with your food and to deal with stress and other emotions effectively without turning to food for comfort. Reach out for help from a professional to start that journey. Contact our office today to learn more.