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Mood and Food, Cravings, and Addiction
Published in Emily Crews Splane, Neil E. Rowland, Anaya Mitra, Psychology of Eating, 2019
Emily Crews Splane, Neil E. Rowland, Anaya Mitra
Stress seems to impact eating for another reason. Activation of the HPA axis also triggers secretion of glucocorticoids, which are hormones with several associated functions including elevated emotional state, increase in insulin secretion, and changes in dopamine and serotonin activity. It seems that stress-induced glucocorticoid release and the cascade of other chemical changes work to additively alter eating behaviors, including the desire to eat, the motivation to obtain and consume food, and the pleasure experience of eating the food (Dallman, 2010; Dallman, Pecoraro & la Fleur, 2005). Eating behavior then reduces stresses, at least temporarily, reinforcing the behavior. This can become a habitual pattern for some people. And because the foods preferred when we are stressed are palatable high-energy junk or comfort foods rather than more healthful foods such as fruits and veggies, this habit is likely to lead to unhealthy weight gain (Dallman, 2010).
Stress From a Different Perspective
Published in William Steele, Reducing Compassion Fatigue, Secondary Traumatic Stress and Burnout, 2019
Over the years, I have met with many survivors who were directly exposed to a variety of traumatic incidents such as the Gulf War, the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma, 9/11 with survivors from both New York and Washington DC, hurricanes Katrina and Rita and far too many traumas involving school shootings and other forms of violence. These survivors had very high levels of exposure to the visuals, the sounds, the smells, the terror and the chaos experienced in such situations. After the first few days, they also reported that talking only intensified the primary reactions they first experienced at those tragic incidents. I remember one clinician I met saying that a few months after the 9/11 attack, area restaurants did an informal survey and found that the consumption of mashed potatoes had tripled. What are mashed potatoes? That’s right, comfort food.
Risk behaviors
Published in Deborah Wallace, Rodrick Wallace, Politics, Hierarchy, and Public Health, 2019
Deborah Wallace, Rodrick Wallace
Risk behaviors often prove to be coping mechanisms. In Baltimore, neighborhoods with high levels of street violence also had high rates of low-weight births (O’Campo et al., 1997). A follow-up paper (Schempf et al., 2009) reported that risk behaviors (smoking, drinking, drugs) of reproductive-aged women in high-violence neighborhoods mediated between exposure to violence and low-weight births. Indulging in comfort food (high fat and sugar) arises in times of stress (Wilkinson, 1996; Rosmond and Bjorntorp, 1998, 1999). Saviano (2016) describes how cocaine affects the user with feelings of competence and power. High indulgence in risk behaviors marks populations under chronic pressures. The much higher average and median integrated risk index of the Trump states compared with the Clinton states has deep meaning: a population in chronic pain from the socioeconomic outcomes of rigid and extreme hierarchy.
Male mice engaging differently in emotional eating present distinct plasmatic and neurological profiles
Published in Nutritional Neuroscience, 2023
Christine Heberden, Elise Maximin, Sylvie Rabot, Laurent Naudon
If stress modifies eating behavior in both directions, a ruling shift towards calorie-rich food is acknowledged [2,3]. Indeed most individuals experiencing stressful situations, either in the usual or experimental settings, are turning to palatable food rather than nutriments more considered as healthy, and this so-called comfort food in turn mitigates the sensation of stress and anxiety [2]. The extent of the requirement to palatable food is variable among subjects, and depends on several factors, such as the gender [4], or the perception of stress [5]. Regarding this ‘emotional eating’ drive, the same result was obtained with rodent or primate models: when submitted to different stress protocols, experimental animals increase their food intake with a preference to high-calorie items [6–8]. Sugary and fat food dampens Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal (HPA) axis stress responses [9]. Similar to humans, this eating drive is variable, with animals more prone to it than others [10,11].
Toward a deeper understanding of food insecurity among college students: examining associations with emotional eating and biological sex
Published in Journal of American College Health, 2023
Miranda L. Frank, Giane B. Sprada, Kara V. Hultstrand, Caroline E. West, Jessica A. Livingston, Amy F. Sato
Currently, there is a need to understand associations between food insecurity and eating patterns among college students. In particular, it is plausible that food insecurity may be associated with greater emotional eating, given that college students encounter a wide variety of stressors, such as academic demands and relationship difficulties.9,10 Perceived stress has been positively associated with both emotional eating11,12 and food insecurity13 among college students. Emotional eating is a form of disinhibited eating that refers to overeating in response to negative emotions, such as stress.14 According to the Affect Regulation Model, emotional eating functions as a method of reducing negative emotions through providing a sense of comfort or temporary distraction.14,15 The alleviation of emotional distress then negatively reinforces the method and promotes its habitual use. Further, emotional eating tends to incorporate energy-dense, ‘comfort’ foods.15,16 Nyklíček and colleagues15 have hypothesized that energy-dense foods depress the endocrine system’s stress response, as indicated by a reduction in cortisol levels, with consumption of energy-dense foods consequently improving one’s emotional state. With an emphasis on internal states, the research on emotional eating has neglected to highlight how environmental factors, specifically food insecurity, may influence individuals’ engagement in emotional eating.
Impacts of the Coronavirus Pandemic on the Emotional and Physical Health of Older Adults Compared with Younger Cohorts
Published in Clinical Gerontologist, 2022
Leilani Feliciano, Katherine A. Johanson, Michele L. Okun, Allison Walden
Food intake and physical activity have also been greatly affected by the pandemic. In some cases, healthy food options were in short supply due to empty shelves or limitations on what could be purchased. Older adults and those of low socio-economic status were the hardest hit as limited access to resources in those with fixed incomes or transportation barriers reduced access to healthy foods and staples. Of note was the increased consumption of comfort foods which are high in fat, sugar, and carbohydrates (i.e., food cravings; Rodríguez-Martín & Meule, 2015). These comfort foods result in temporary stress reduction due to an increase in serotonin production which essentially operates as a mood enhancer (Ma, Ratnasabapathy, & Gardiner, 2017). Unfortunately, these eating behaviors often lead to weight gain and risk for obesity (Matias et al., 2020). Exacerbating this issue was the dramatic drop in moderate-to-vigorous activity levels with a concomitant increase in sedentary behavior (Peçanha et al., 2020). Closure of senior centers, recreational centers, gyms, and restrictions on mobility subsequently impacted the aforementioned factors of mood, sleep and eating behaviors. A long-term possibility of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic is an increase in obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.