By Dr. Asnat Raziel, bariatric surgeon specializing in obesity treatment, metabolic health and healthy longevity; Director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Obesity Treatment, Assia Medical, Assuta Ramat HaChayal, Tel Aviv
How to overcome emotional eating: the starting point
How to overcome emotional eating is a question I hear almost every day in my clinic. Most people know perfectly well what they should be eating. The difficulty is that they use food to calm down, to comfort themselves or as a reward. The good news: this is a learned pattern, which means it can also be changed. In this article I explain what happens in the body and the brain, and offer practical, research-tested tools.
What is emotional eating?
Emotional eating is the tendency to eat in response to emotions rather than hunger. Usually these are difficult emotions such as stress, sadness, loneliness or boredom. But joy and celebration can lead to this kind of eating too. Almost all of us sometimes eat for emotional reasons, and that is not necessarily a problem. The problem begins when it becomes the main way of coping with emotions.
How to tell physical hunger from emotional hunger
- Physical hunger builds gradually, whereas emotional hunger comes on suddenly and feels urgent.
- When you are physically hungry, almost any food will do. Emotional hunger, by contrast, craves a specific food, usually something sweet or fatty.
- Physical hunger eases once you are full. Emotional eating, on the other hand, continues even after you are full.
- Emotional eating is often followed by guilt and shame.
Emotional eating: what happens in the body and the brain
Sweet and fatty foods activate the brain’s reward system. That is why they bring momentary relief, and the brain learns to return to them every time things get hard. According to Harvard researchers, understanding the triggers for emotional eating is the first step toward change. Food does not solve whatever caused the distress, and sometimes it even adds to it.
Stress and the hormone cortisol
In a well-known laboratory study, researchers exposed 59 healthy women to a stressful situation. Women who responded with a large rise in cortisol, the stress hormone, ate more calories on the day of the stressor. They also preferred sweet foods. In other words, the body’s physical response to stress directly affects what we eat. I have also written about this broader link in my article on stress and obesity.
Lack of sleep increases cravings
Fatigue is another powerful trigger. A study that examined the brain after a sleepless night found reduced activity in the regions responsible for judgment. At the same time, the amygdala, the brain’s emotional center, became more active. As a result, the craving for high-calorie food increased. That is why sleep and brain health are part of the treatment.
How to overcome emotional eating: practical tools
1. Identify your triggers
Try keeping a food diary for two weeks. Write down what you ate, how much, and above all how you felt at that moment. The patterns usually become clear quickly: a certain time of day, a certain situation or a certain person. Once you can see the pattern, you can plan a different response.
2. Pause for five minutes
When the urge strikes, ask yourself: am I really hungry? If the answer is no, choose a different short activity instead, such as a brief walk, a phone call to a friend, a favorite song or a few deep breaths. The urge often passes within a few minutes. With practice, resisting it becomes much easier.
3. Mindfulness and mindful eating
Mindfulness means paying deliberate, nonjudgmental attention to the present moment. A systematic review of 14 studies found that mindfulness meditation training reduces binge eating and emotional eating. However, its effect on body weight itself was inconsistent. You can start simply: eat sitting down, without a screen, and chew slowly. Meditation more broadly can also be a helpful tool alongside obesity treatment.
4. How to overcome emotional eating in the evening: don’t go hungry during the day
Skipping meals increases the likelihood of emotional eating in the evening. So it is worth eating regular meals with protein, vegetables and fiber. A well-fed body is far more resilient to emotional stress.
5. Self-compassion: how to overcome emotional eating without punishing yourself
Harsh self-criticism after emotional eating increases distress and sometimes leads to more eating. Instead, try treating yourself the way you would treat a good friend. One slip is not a failure; it is information about what happened.
How to overcome emotional eating with help from those around you
It is hard to cope alone. An open conversation with your family helps create a supportive home, for example by deciding together which foods stay in the house. Talking with your family about obesity treatment can make a real difference. In addition, a predictable routine of sleep, meals and activity reduces situations of stress and fatigue.
How to overcome emotional eating with professional treatment
When self-help tools are not enough, effective help is available. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) teaches you to recognize the thoughts that lead to eating and to replace them. A clinical dietitian and a psychologist who specialize in eating can also guide you through the process.
It is also important to distinguish between emotional eating and binge eating disorder. In this disorder there are recurrent episodes of eating large amounts with a sense of loss of control. It is a medical diagnosis that requires structured treatment.
Can medications help you overcome emotional eating?
Medications in the GLP-1 class reduce appetite and intrusive thoughts about food. For some patients they also ease the emotional urge to eat. However, the medication does not replace working on your emotions. It is also important to monitor the effect of GLP-1 medications on mental health during treatment. General information about the options is available on the obesity medication page.
The bottom line
How do you overcome emotional eating? You start by understanding that it is not a character flaw but a habit your brain has learned. Then you identify your triggers, build alternatives and address sleep and stress. Ultimately, the combination of self-help tools, support from those around you and professional guidance brings lasting change. If you feel that food is controlling you, it is worth seeking advice. At the clinic of Dr. Asnat Raziel we have a dietitian on staff. In addition, as needed, I refer patients to a multidisciplinary body-and-mind team: dietitians, psychologists, holistic coaches, naturopaths and complementary medicine practitioners, as well as Pilates and yoga instructors and experts in stress-reduction techniques.
The information in this article is general and does not replace personal medical advice.
Frequently asked questions
Is emotional eating an eating disorder?
Not necessarily. Almost everyone sometimes eats for emotional reasons. It becomes a problem when it is frequent, harms your health or comes with a sense of loss of control.
Is it possible to improve without medication?
Yes. For many people, a food diary, regular meals, good sleep and mindfulness lead to significant improvement. Medication is considered only as part of broader obesity treatment.
How do I overcome emotional eating when self-help tools aren’t enough?
Seek professional help when your eating feels out of control, keeps recurring in large amounts, or causes significant emotional distress.
Sources
Struggling with emotional eating?
The impact of sleep deprivation on food desire in the human brain
