Reasons Why Stress Increases Appetite

Stress affects a large portion of the population today. Too much work, many stimuli or problems balancing family and work life can lead to stress, and stress increases appetite.

Evolutionarily, we are used to having specific moments of stress because it is something that has helped our species survive. However, there is a very important mismatch between the construction we have and what we actually experience.

From periodic stress to chronic stress

Daily stress becomes chronic and affects your health in many ways:

• It aggravates high blood pressure and allergies.
• Pain increases.
• It causes anxiety, insomnia or depression.

One of the factors that is most affected when we are stressed is appetite. In fact, some people cannot eat under stress and others cannot stop eating.

The relationship between unhealthy food and stress

Many of us tend to eat more when we are stressed. Moreover, the type of foods that soothe our anxiety tend not to be healthy.

A 2006 study published in the journal Physiology and Behavior found that people under stress tended to choose unhealthy, high-fat foods, such as chocolate, over healthy, low-fat foods, such as grapes.

Another experiment by the same authors showed that more women than men increased their intake significantly when they were stressed, especially if they were already following a diet to lose weight.

In many cases , this type of behavior responds to what we know as emotional hunger. It is a type of hunger that causes us to compulsively eat tasty food to soothe irritating sensations and emotions such as stress, sadness, anger or loneliness.

What physiological factors influence the increase in appetite?

According to a study published in 2007 by the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology , excess cortisol can make you eat unhealthy foods. This is one of the hormones that we secrete the most when we are stressed.

Another 2009 study from the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism shows how stress causes you to secrete glucocorticoids, which increases motivation for food. In addition, it increases insulin secretion. It can make you eat more and affect obesity.

So foods rich in sugar and unhealthy fats reduce the stress response. The negative effect is that it reinforces the habit of following a poor diet. Therefore, experts emphasize the importance of teaching patients techniques so that they learn to identify their emotions and change their reactions to overeating.

What can we do to prevent stress from increasing our appetite?

Here are some tips to help reduce stress-induced hunger:

• Learn to listen to what your body is telling you: It is important to know how to distinguish hunger from emotion in order to act accordingly.

• Eat real, filling food: If you eat enough real food and get enough carbohydrates, protein and fats, it will be much easier to feel full.
• Avoid having unhealthy food at home: The best way to avoid overeating ultra-processed foods is not to have access to them.
• Replace unhealthy foods with healthy snacks: If you feel very stressed and can’t avoid eating, at least eat foods that provide your body with nutrients.
• Replace snack eating with a different behavior: Compulsive eating can become a habit and habits can change. So instead of eating, try taking a walk, calling a friend, or spending time with pets instead.
• Analyze what is happening: Eating excessive amounts is the reaction to avoiding unpleasant feelings. Recognizing them will help solve your problem.

• Make room for your emotions: Feeling what you are feeling is another important step in overcoming stress.
• Think long-term: When we overeat, it’s easy to focus on the present moment. Therefore, it is important to think about the consequences of our actions.
• Be Rational: When we are stressed, we are often overwhelmed by emotions. Therefore, it is important that we think rationally in order to regulate our behavior.
• Practice accepting: Being permanently stressed puts us in a situation of constant struggle between what is happening and what we want to happen. To solve any problem, you have to accept the situation you are in.

Final recommendations to control how stress increases appetite

Excessive appetite, weight gain and stress obesity are the consequences, not the cause. Therefore, it is important to try to eat better. First of all, examine what leads you to this type of behavior.

If you can understand what is causing your chronic stress, you can start solving the problem with your eating habits. If you do not know the answer or do not know how to deal with stress, it is best to ask a mental health professional for help.