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Eating and Feelings: The Connection Explained | Nutritionist Explains | Myprotein
Feb 8, 2025
Expert dietitian explains physical and emotional hunger.
In this video, Elle Kelly, a registered sports dietitian, explores what is considered emotional eating, what causes it, and what you can do to break the cycle.
Have you ever had a day when it's been difficult and you reach for food to soothe how you feel? Food is so much more than fuel and nourishment, it should be pleasurable, comforting, and enjoyable. However, using food to cope and for comfort all the time can lead to a vicious cycle of emotional eating.
Nutrition may be a science but eating is a behaviour associated with emotions. Emotional eating is commonly thought to be only associated with negative emotions like stress or sadness, but it can be nostalgic, comforting and a way of expressing love.
Let us know in the comments if this is relatable to you.
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Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
00:50 - Causes
03:13 - Effects
04:00 - Addressing emotional eating
06:24 - Anymore q's?
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0:00
we've all reached for that chocolate bar
0:01
when we've had a difficult day in the
0:03
office or had the stereotypical tub of
0:05
Ben and& Jerry's if you've gone through
0:06
a breakup food is so much more than Fuel
0:09
and nourishment it should be pleasurable
0:11
comforting and enjoyable however using
0:14
food to cope and for Comfort all of the
0:16
time can lead to a vicious cycle of
0:18
emotional
0:21
[Music]
0:23
eating my name is l and I'm a registered
0:26
dietician and sports dietitian and I
0:28
specialize in disordered eating in this
0:30
video we're going to explore what is
0:31
considered emotional eating what causes
0:34
it and what you can do to break the
0:36
cycle first things first what exactly is
0:38
emotional eating emotional eating refers
0:40
to the consumption of food in response
0:42
to emotional states such as stress
0:45
boredom loneliness or sadness rather
0:47
than actual physical hunger what causes
0:50
emotional eating nutrition may be a
0:52
science but eating is a behavior and
0:54
therefore is associated with emotions
0:56
emotional eating is commonly thought to
0:58
only be associated with negative
1:00
emotions like stress or sadness but it
1:02
can be nostalgic comforting and a way of
1:04
expressing love from the moment we are
1:06
born we associate nourishment with
1:08
comfort as being fed by either a bottle
1:11
or the breast involves being held and
1:13
comforted throughout our life we learn
1:15
to associate food with many different
1:17
functions often subconsciously this can
1:19
mean that we turn to food to deal with
1:21
certain situations without properly
1:23
understanding why or what it is we are
1:25
feeling simply because it has become a
1:27
learned behavior eating in response to
1:29
emotions is not inherently bad it only
1:31
becomes a problem if it is our only
1:33
coping mechanism so how do we know what
1:35
emotional eating is let's look at some
1:37
of the clues that can tell us our hunger
1:39
may be influenced by our emotions when
1:42
we think of hunger we think of those
1:43
physical cues like a grumbling stomach
1:46
salivating maybe a headache or
1:47
struggling to focus this is physical
1:50
hunger and this tends to build gradually
1:52
and can usually be satisfied by eating
1:54
something the symptoms of emotional
1:56
eating are a little different though and
1:58
they're not accompanied by any physical
2:00
cues per se you might sense a knot in
2:02
your stomach or a tightness in your
2:04
chest which could indicate that you're
2:05
feeling emotions like anxiety but your
2:08
body is not physically telling you it's
2:10
time to eat when you feel hungry very
2:12
suddenly and there is a sense of urgency
2:15
around it or a craving for something
2:17
specific comes up that's leading you to
2:19
look aimlessly around the kitchen it's
2:21
likely that this is emotional hunger it
2:23
is common to experience emotional hunger
2:25
straight after you've eaten a meal this
2:27
is because the act of eating actually
2:29
provides relief from emotions in many
2:31
ways negative emotions may lead to a
2:33
feeling of emptiness or an emotional
2:35
void and food can be seen as a way to
2:37
try and feel that void and create a
2:39
false feeling of fullness eating can
2:41
also serve as a distraction from
2:43
uncomfortable emotions or a stressful
2:44
situation which is why when we eat in
2:47
response to emotions we are likely to
2:49
overeat or even binge eat we also
2:51
learned that food does make us feel good
2:53
serotonin is released after eating
2:55
carbohydrates which can create a feeling
2:57
of calmness and is known to improve our
2:59
mood dopamine and noradrenaline are
3:01
released after eating proteins and these
3:03
enhance concentration and alertness but
3:05
dopamine is also associated with
3:07
learning rewards and neur adrenaline
3:09
plays a role in our body's stress
3:10
response what are the effects of
3:12
emotional eating when we eat in response
3:15
to emotions or a certain situation we
3:17
improve how we are feeling momentarily
3:19
and it provides an escape from whatever
3:21
it is we are dealing with but this is
3:23
shortlived as when we stop eating the
3:26
emotion we are trying to avoid is still
3:28
there it is common to experience guilt
3:30
and further negative emotions following
3:32
an episode of emotional eating but it is
3:34
really important to remember that you
3:36
never need to feel guilty for eating
3:38
regardless of the reason and that
3:39
beating yourself up further is likely to
3:41
continue Reliance on food to cope and to
3:43
feel better or encourage disorted eating
3:46
behaviors like restricting food eating
3:48
emotionally is a sign that we may not be
3:51
appropriately dealing with our emotions
3:52
or certain scenarios and this is why
3:55
emotional eating is rarely a one-off
3:57
occurrence it continues until it's
3:59
addressed
4:00
so how do we address emotional eating as
4:03
I said emotional eating can be a sign
4:05
that we're not dealing with something so
4:07
it's really important that we get to the
4:08
root cause of what that is it's really
4:11
difficult to know sometimes how exactly
4:13
we feel we live in quite a fast-paced
4:15
world where we say I'm fine all the time
4:18
and we don't always have the time to
4:19
address how we feel feeling tired you've
4:21
still got to go to work feeling stressed
4:23
you've still got to get on with it
4:25
feeling anxious just ignore it and focus
4:27
on something else when we ignore or
4:29
suppress our emotions they tend to
4:31
manifest and we struggle to know exactly
4:33
how to deal with them it's quite common
4:35
for emotional eating to occur in the
4:37
evening and this is often a result of
4:39
suppressed emotions and unmet needs from
4:41
throughout the day manifesting so the
4:44
first step is to start getting
4:46
interested in what you are feeling you
4:49
can't create alternative or constructive
4:51
coping mechanisms if you don't know what
4:52
the issue is ask yourself what is going
4:54
on for you and what could help you to
4:56
feel better in that situation a lot of
4:58
the time the answer is not food checking
5:01
in with yourself throughout the day can
5:02
help to create more awareness of your
5:04
feelings and your needs which can help
5:06
you to respond more constructively and
5:08
efficiently rather than suppressing the
5:10
emotions and finding yourself in the
5:12
biscuit tin later that evening it is
5:14
really important to be specific about
5:16
what you're feeling and what you need so
5:18
that you can actually deal with that
5:19
feeling appropriately for example
5:22
arranging to meet a friend when someone
5:24
is feeling overwhelmed may not be the
5:26
most helpful tool but it could be for
5:28
someone who's feeling l only it can be
5:30
helpful to build up a repertoire of
5:32
alternatives to eating think about the
5:34
things that you can do that deal with
5:36
emotions that come up and try these next
5:38
time you sense emotional hunger this
5:40
might feel like a lot of effort at the
5:42
time and as though food could be much
5:44
quicker approach to feeling better but
5:46
this practice does become more habitual
5:48
the more you use it and it will get to a
5:50
point where your first thought when
5:51
you're feeling uncomfortable feelings is
5:53
not actually food I really want to
5:55
reiterate that it is the most normal
5:57
thing in the world to find food
5:58
comforting and there is nothing wrong
6:00
with you if you find yourself in a cycle
6:02
of emotional eating eating in response
6:04
to emotions is not inherently bad it
6:06
only becomes a problem if it is our only
6:09
coping mechanism knowing the symptoms
6:11
being aware of your emotions and
6:12
creating alternative coping mechanisms
6:14
are really important when tackling
6:16
emotional eating but it is also super
6:19
important to be compassionate towards
6:20
yourself beating yourself up is only
6:23
going to fuel that cycle if emotional
6:25
eating is having a significant impact on
6:27
your life and well-being you would
6:29
probably benefit from speaking with a
6:30
registered dietician or licensed
6:32
therapist with expertise in this area to
6:34
help guide you on this if you have any
6:36
questions be sure to leave them in the
6:38
comments below and don't forget to like
6:40
And subscribe to the my protein YouTube
6:42
channel for more great evidence-based
6:44
nutrition
6:49
information
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