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Food news

EMOTIONAL EATING

Why is it that many women eat when they feel stressed, sad or depressed?

Food and emotions are deeply linked in human beings, according to Dr Christiane Northrup, author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom (Piatkus). Women in the Western world are particularly prone to emotional eating. This is one of the reasons dieting does not work: it does not address the reasons people overeat in the first place, according to Dr Northrup.

Feelings of unhappiness are often experienced as emptiness; a hole that needs filling up. And what better way to do that than with the leftover packet of Romany Creams and a couple of slabs of KitKat.

Clinical psychologist Nadia Salerno says, 'Women who tend to use food to soothe and meet their emotional needs may be more prone to suffer from depression and feelings of hopelessness and isolation. Metaphorically, comfort eating is an attempt to fill the void in their lives.'

Often, when a baby cries, the mother, not knowing what it is that the child needs, hands her something to eat to placate her.

'Comfort-eating patterns may have developed from eating habits formed as children. Parents often use food as a reward, or as a way of emotionally soothing a child. These patterns remain fixed into adulthood,' Salerno says. why women?

Dr Northrup suggests that women's connection with food on an emotional level originated in the days when 'we avoided the poisonous berries and ate what Mother said was safe'. Northrup's theory is that because it usually is 'Mother' who feeds us, eating helps us to feel safe and cared for at an unconscious and conscious level.

Although women's role as traditional mothers who provide food are now out of date, these roles are still deeply ingrained. See if these questions are applicable to you:

• Do you feel personally responsible for doing the food shopping and for preparing the family's meals?
• If the refrigerator is empty when family members are hungry, do you feel guilty?
• If you have prepared a meal and there is not enough to dish out full portions to everyone, is it you who goes without?

Many women have a deep-seated feeling that to nurture is to feed. It then follows that when you are feeling vulnerable and in need of nurturing, you do so through eating.

Another argument for why people eat when they feel miserable is that certain foods increase brain serotonin. Serotonin is the chemical substance in our brains that allows us to feel happy. According to psychiatrist Dora Wynchack, author of Women & Food (Zebra), people often snack on carbohydrate-rich 'comfort' food such as cake, chocolate and potato chips to boost their mood. Dopamine, another 'happy' chemical is also released during a good meal.

Are you constantly concerned about your weight?

Do you deny yourself food that you really want?

Do you eat when you are physically not hungry?

Do you continue to eat even after you are full?

Do you often eat alone because you feel embarrassed?

Do you avoid eating all day so that you can binge at dinner?

Do you ever eat in private or hide food?

Do you find you can't just have a little bit of something?

Do you use exercise, diets, laxatives, vomiting or food restriction to control your weight?

Preventive measures

1. Don't feel guilty. Beating yourself up whenever you comfort eat will only make you feel terrible, leading to more comfort eating.
2. Listen to your body. Our bodies are designed to know what we need, when we need it. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full.
3. It is now well known that eating certain foods stimulates cravings. A refined-food diet is partly responsible for overeating. If your diet lacks whole grains, beans and fresh vegetables, you are guaranteed to have food cravings.
4. There is no ideal weight. If you eat when you are hungry and your diet is balanced, you will be your ideal weight, even if it's a few kilograms heavier than you have been told you should be.
5. Enjoy your food. Take time to sit down when you eat and savour every mouthful.

Helpline

For information on nutrition and a healthy diet, call the Nutrition Information Centre at the University of Stellenbosch Faculty of Health Sciences, tel (021) 933-1408.

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