What is Binge Eating, Compulsive Eating and Emotional Eating?

Have you ever found yourself in an anxiety-provoking or stressful situation, and sought comfort by eating in a whole tray of freshly baked cookies or indulged in more than your fair share of a favorite greasy takeout food? 

Research tells us, prolonged exposure to stress causes our body’s adrenal glands to produce a hormone called cortisol which increases our appetite. Unfortunately, after the stressful situation has passed, our adrenal glands can often “get stuck” in the on position, continuing to release cortisol which can trigger our appetite.

To makes matters worse (or better depending on your perspective), when our bodies experience long-term, prolonged stress, the foods that we crave tend to be more calorie dense. This is thought to be because our body is preparing us to face a potentially physically taxing situation. A situation where having more nutrients and thus energy, should be beneficial for us. 

However, the problem with this process is that most modern day stressful situations don’t call for the energy to run away from a sabertooth tiger, or to walk for several miles in search of food and shelter. Because of that, consuming very calorie dense foods during stressful situations, often leads to physical, emotional, or even health related outcomes, that may cause distress or impact our ability to function. 

Why Restrictive Eating and Diets Don’t Work…

Perhaps you’ve been battling with uncontrollable eating for a while now and you’ve attempted to “fix it” by following the latest diet plans from social media fitness influencers, only to find yourself starving later that night and devouring an entire bag of Oreo cookies in one sitting, without being able to stop! 

This can also be attributed to our brain and body’s survival mechanisms that drive us to feel excessively hungry and compel us to eat when we may not be consuming enough calories, by releasing hormones like Ghrelin and Cortisol that stimulate our appetite!

Whether you call it binge eating, emotional eating, or compulsive eating, the effects are the same! It leaves you feeling a strong lack of control over your eating behaviors!