Overeating and Stress: Understand the Connection and Break the Cycle
Understanding what comes about when we are stressed can help us understand our impulse to overeat. We humans have a number of genetic programs designed to keep us alive. For example, when a tiger arrives from the woods, our sensory system sends an indication to the brain where different brain parts get activated and prepare us to operate or fight for the life. This is actually the what are known as fight/flight response – the blood disappears from the viscera and circulation increases towards the limbs. By doing this, you are able to run faster and does not bleed to death if wounded in the viscera. Your reaction time is faster too, but that is at the cost of logic and reasoning.
Apart from being less intelligent when you’re in fight/light mode, a lot of the physiological functions in your body will also be challenged. The result is poor digestion, impaired sugar metabolism and increased fat cell function, to mention just a few.
It is great so that you can activate the fight/light response in times of danger, whether a tiger is coming from the woods or perhaps a car is racing nearby. Here is the problem though – the same stress response is being activated not just whenever a car is originating fast to you! The same stress fact is started up each time your boss is originating to you, or perhaps your mother looks at you with this weird “What excuses have you employed again?” expression, or when you are lying awake wondering the way you are likely to pay the bills. Actually, I can go on with this list and end up mentioning probably about 90% of the daily activities!
Since so much in our daily life is interpreted as threat and activates the fight/flight response, the majority of us end up chronically stressed, we’re in survival. Some don’t even realize that there is one other way of being, namely the state of rest-digest-growth-repair. Instead, we suffer the consequences of stress in the form of hypertension, diabetes, stomach ulcers, obesity, plus much more.
Now, seeing how stress doesn’t help digestion and actually triggers the fat storage mechanism, so why do we tend to eat much more if we are under pressure? The key to understanding this impulse lies partly in understanding the reaction of the amygdala. The amygdala is really a part of the brain that interprets the threat signals coming at us. It can easily become overloaded because we feel threatened by a lot of things constantly. When that happens, the amygdala becomes overactive and can therefore trigger a licking/chewing response. Animals tend to lick their paws when they have just survived something dramatic and traumatic. People won’t necessarily lick their fingers and hands however, many will bite their nails. Another, perhaps more common response, is nervous chewing. Some will constantly chew gum without realizing that this is a way to get within the stress. Unfortunately, most will chew food instead of gum.
Thus, chewing appears to be a nervous response triggered by an overactive amygdala to assist us get over stress. Therefore, chronic stress (especially stress that you are accustomed to and deal with very well) may be one of the reasons why you are constantly looking for food and overeating.
Can you control your eating when in stress? You can also it needn’t be that hard! Deep breathing is a straightforward yet very effective method to relax and turn off the fight/flight mode. Ten deep inhalations followed by ten slow exhalations are often enough to relax you. Being active is an execllent way to get over stress, whether it is a fast walk neighborhood, a few star jumps or push-ups, or visiting the gym. Undoubtedly, yoga is by far probably the most superior form of exercise when it comes to turning off the stress. Like a last resort, consider taking some b vitamin in conjunction with vitamin C. This seems to offer good support for the adrenals and can therefore help bring down the strain levels. Remember, turning from the stress mode is often the key factor that can help you are taking food off your mind.