Why you may eat emotionally and what to do about it

Food is essential for our survival. But we also eat for reasons that have nothing to do with physical nourishment. People use food to celebrate life’s important milestones, create community, and honor cultural identities. And sometimes, people use food to soothe or avoid uncomfortable emotions, like fear, anger, sadness, loneliness, or boredom. This is called emotional eating or stress eating. 

While not a mental health condition on its own, chronic emotional eating can negatively affect your physical and mental health. It may lead to harmful patterns, like binge eating, and may put you at greater risk of developing an eating disorder. Fortunately, if you struggle with emotional eating, you can learn to cope with stress in healthier ways.

Five ways to manage emotional eating

If you want to avoid emotional eating, the following tips can help you manage stress in healthier ways:

1. Spot the signs. Pay attention to your relationship with food, and see if you can identify times or situations when you’re most likely to eat emotionally. Knowing your triggers is an important part of breaking the cycle.
2. Write it down. Take some notes on how you feel after eating a snack or meal. This isn’t about counting calories or restricting. It’s about collecting information to give you a clearer picture of your emotional relationship with food.
3. Manage stress. Keeping your stress levels in check can help prevent emotional eating. So try to make time for a little self-care each day. This might include doing a simple breathing exercise, listening to a podcast, or taking a walk around the block.
4. Purchase healthy snacks. There’s nothing wrong with snacking! But if you tend to overdo it on unhealthy snacks when you’re feeling stressed or upset, try to keep some healthier alternatives on hand. 
5. Seek professional help. If emotional eating is a common occurrence for you and you can’t seem to get it under control, it’s OK to ask for help. A mental health professional can help you learn to manage your emotions in healthier ways and repair your relationship with food.

The complex relationship between food and emotions

There are many different reasons that a person might eat emotionally, and it can affect people of all ages. For example, maybe you know what it’s like to unwind with a pint of ice cream after a stressful day at work. Or maybe you’ve found yourself finishing a bag of chips after a big fight with a loved one. Both traumatic events and everyday stressors can trigger emotional eating. 

But have you ever wondered why many of us turn to the same types of food for comfort? If you tend to crave sugary, salty, or high-fat foods when you’re feeling upset, you’re not alone. And it’s not just because these foods are tasty! Research shows that foods that are high in sugar, sodium, and fat activate the brain’s reward system more than healthier options. That’s why they make us feel better, at least temporarily.

Using food for comfort once in a while doesn’t mean you have a mental health condition. But one of the biggest challenges with emotional eating is that it can create a cycle that may cause feelings of shame or failure. These uncomfortable emotions might lead a person to use food to self-soothe again, and the cycle continues. 

Over time, emotional eating can lead to:

• Feeling ashamed
• Feeling rejected by society
• Low self-esteem
• Social isolation 
• High cholesterol
• High blood pressure
• Heart problems
• Diabetes
• Sleep problems
• Breathing problems
• Muscle and bone problems
• Increased risk for various types of cancer

In addition to these physical and emotional challenges, chronic emotional eating may increase your risk of developing binge eating disorder. This risk becomes elevated when a person engages in both emotional eating and disordered eating habits, like restrictive dieting. 

We don’t yet fully understand all the causes of eating disorders. But people living with mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, OCD, or social phobia may also be at greater risk.

How can you tell if you’re actually hungry?

Hunger cues are your body’s natural signals that tell you when it’s time to eat. But sometimes, our emotions and environment can make those cues harder to read. For example, have you ever felt suddenly hungry while driving past a fast-food restaurant and smelling those delicious fries? Or maybe you’ve struggled to focus at work because you keep thinking about donuts in the breakroom. 

The following tips can help you check in with your body and determine if you’re actually hungry.

• Pause before eating. Before reaching for a meal or snack, take a pause. Slow down, breathe, and ask yourself “Am I really hungry?” 
• Pay attention to your emotions. If you’re feeling stressed, you might be mistaking emotional discomfort for physical hunger. Monitoring your emotions can help you better attend to your mind and body’s needs.
• Don’t eat too fast. While you’re eating, chew slowly. This gives your brain a chance to catch up to your body’s level of fullness.
• Distract yourself. If you can’t tell if you’re physically hungry, distract yourself with a small task. Once the task is complete, check in with how you’re feeling. You may find that you aren’t hungry anymore.

Find care with Rula

Many people eat emotionally once in a while. But if it becomes a frequent habit, it can take a toll on your physical and mental health. It may also negatively impact your relationships and increase your risk of developing an eating disorder. If you’re struggling with emotional eating, know that help is available. 

With Rula, you can use our therapist-matching tool to find a provider who accepts your insurance and specializes in treating eating disorders—  or any other mental health concern you’re facing. From there, you can schedule your first appointment as early as this week and connect with your new provider from the comfort of home.

Find a therapist with Rula