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Eating is something that is primal and inherent to our survival. Some view it as purely a functional activity with the goal to take in macronutrients and micronutrients for physiological benefit. However, there is increased research that eating goes beyond our physical needs and appears to be connected to our emotions. Indulging in eating may be used as an escape for stress, for having to change, or to block feelings. Rather than deal with the issue at hand, it can be quite easy to 'stuff' the emotion and to divert our attention elsewhere, such as to eating. Indeed, the foods we choose affect our moods, and the moods we have influence our food selection. Perhaps this relationship is not surprising considering that the gut and brain have a distinct interaction when it comes to food intake and appetite.

During the first phase of nutritional counseling, it is not always apparent that there are emotional eating issues to address. Typically, patients are excited to begin their journey by starting a new diet and losing weight or reducing symptoms. However, after weeks or months, they may find themselves on a ‘plateau.’ By this time, a solid foundation of trust has most likely developed with the patient so that they may feel comfortable sharing with you some of their emotional eating challenges. Once you have established this relationship with your patient, you can begin to apply the four steps of transforming emotional eating into meaningful meals: (1) Awareness, (2) Developing Alternatives, (3) Mining the Root, and (4) Eating with Pleasure.

Step 1: Awareness

The process begins with awareness that emotional eating is occurring. The 3-day or 7-day food diary is an excellent tool for having patients track their food intake. A series of food diaries may indicate a certain pattern of eating and even identify triggers for emotional eating, such as stress or hypoglycemia. Try to help the patient understand how to recognize emotional eating and that it is an urgent need to eat specific foods that does not originate from gut signals, but from thought processes. An episode of emotional eating can result in feelings of guilt and lead to further emotional eating events, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle. Emotional eating involves pairing eating with an upsetting emotion, and can be automatic and unfulfilling physiologically. In contrast, physical hunger is gut-based (e.g., stomach sensations can be felt) and is open to eating a variety of different foods. When it originates from physiological signals, eating can lead to a natural cessation of eating when full, followed by an overall feeling of being satisfied with the meal. These guidelines to differentiate emotional and physiological eating may be helpful to your patients as they may not be in touch with their bodily needs and the natural impulse of knowing when to eat.

Step 2: Developing Alternatives

Once your patient can identify moments of emotional eating, they will be able to develop alternatives rather than choosing to eat from an emotional place. When a craving strikes, it may be useful to see whether they can refrain from caving in to the craving for 15 minutes by doing something else such as exercise, deep breathing, painting, wash dishes, etc. If they are feeling emotional, it may help to encourage your patients to express the emotion through journaling or talking with a friend.

Step 3: Mining the Root

Ultimately, it will be helpful to have your patient be able to determine the origin of their emotional eating. This part of the process is referred to as “mining the root” or diving deeper into the meaning of the craving or emotional eating process. If a patient is comfortable with this idea, there are a number of tools they can use to explore the reasons for their emotional eating. One simple exercise is when they are having a craving or feel vulnerable to emotional eating, they can pause and do some deep breathing to center themselves and calm their mind. Taking it to the next level, they can check in with themselves by asking the question “why” they have this craving. After asking a couple of “why” questions to themselves in succession, they may discover that the real reason for the craving is because, for example, they are fatigued. A more appropriate measure to deal with the fatigue rather than eating may be for them to ensure that they go to bed early, or if possible, to take a light nap.

Step 4: Eating with Pleasure

Finally, the end goal of your nutritional counseling with the patient would ideally be to assist them in healing their relationship with food. As a society, we have become tuned into a way of life that involves hurried multi-tasking. We eat quickly, often while doing other things such as driving or answering e-mails, or even watching the television. Furthermore, we grab convenient, pre-packaged foods on the run, sometimes in metal cans, or cardboard boxes, or individually wrapped items. The pleasure and meaningfulness of the eating experience has been replaced with mindless munching. Some patients have conveyed to me that eating 'gets in the way' of doing other things, and as a result, they 'forget to eat.' It would serve our patients well to remind them that eating can be a conscious, enjoyable experience, from selection of foods at the grocery store to savoring each bite of a homemade meal in the company of our community of friends and family.

©2008 Metagenics, Inc.