It is impossible to separate food from the emotional world, as can be seen in the habit of snacking or binge eating. Although humans need to ingest nutrients for good health, they may often be eating driven by anxiety or another emotional component.
Symptoms of anxiety eating
When analyzing the symptoms of patients in the nutritionist’s office who frequently eat for an emotional reason, the following can be observed:
- Snacking: serves to fill a void, to fill the mind with a pleasurable activity.
- Eating compulsions: they are usually gratifications that replace pleasure and guilt in relation to their emotional sphere.
- Bulimic crises: they are intended to fill a bottomless void, without hunger or pleasure due to an internal tension.
- Depression: when painful experiences, such as a loss, are not grieved, feelings of anxiety and sadness can lead to eating behavior.
The response to anxiety eating
The patient’s response to these anxiety-induced food intake processes will vary according to the patient’s own internal characteristics (ability to cope with reality, priority of the pleasure principle, fixations or ability to relativize), as well as his or her environment (the abundance and accessibility of these foods). Thus, the patient may react by stopping eating or, on the contrary, by eating indiscriminately, in both cases compromising his biological balance and his health.
Biological balance and homeostasis
The human body is composed of elements that need stable conditions to function effectively: the maintenance of these stable conditions is what guarantees and is achieved thanks to homeostasis.
The organism is in homeostasis when it has the optimal composition of gases, nutrients, water and ions, as well as an ideal temperature and a correct volume for the health of its cells.
Stress alters homeostasis
Stress can arise from an external environment through stimuli such as noise, heat or lack of oxygen in highly charged environments; or it can also originate from within the individual, for example from low glucose levels, pain or unpleasant and distressing thoughts. When homeostasis is altered sufficiently to make the alteration irreversible or long-lasting, dysfunction and disease can occur. Therefore, the regular supply of nutrients to the organism is essential to maintain homostasis, and it is necessary to administer the different food groups. It will be the balance and interaction of the endocrine system and the nervous system that will guarantee homeostasis.
Consequences of poor nutrition
A poor diet can lead to states of malnutrition due to a lack of nutrients, for example by not eating enough vegetables, fruit or dairy products, or also by ingesting large quantities of certain elements such as fats, pastries or alcohol. In addition, stress itself will be affected by poor nutrition, producing a greater number of free radicals.
Antioxidants, protection of the organism
Free radicals are formed in the process of metabolism but are increased by certain factors such as the consumption of certain drugs, pollution or alcohol. They are very unstable molecules that tend to react by damaging atoms and molecules in their environment. The most commonly damaged cells are proteins, cell membrane lipids and DNA. The body uses antioxidant substances to protect itself from attack:
- Antioxidant enzymes: magnesium, selenium, enzymes containing iron, zinc and copper.
- Antioxidant nutrients: vitamin C, vitamin E, B-carotene
- Foods with more antioxidants: dark green leafy vegetables, carrots, citrus fruits, green peppers, strawberries, red cabbage, walnuts, hazelnuts, seeds and fish oil
The person with an eating disorder or an episode of stress should focus their diet trying to provide the necessary energy and get the nutrients that are lacking in greater quantity because there is a greater demand. The fact is that the functioning of the neurons will also depend on an adequate diet.
The effect of stress and diet on neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitters are chemical substances inside neurons, and through their interconnection they give rise to different functions such as sleep, speech, memory, mood or appetite. Specifically, serotonin is involved in eating behaviors and in anxious-depressive states.
Thus, through the food ingested, the necessary substances are obtained to control the state of mind. Tryptophan appears in the blood after digestion and absorption of proteins in the intestine. Then, the tryptophan that will reach the brain is the proportion between proteins and carbohydrates in the blood for its subsequent synthesis of serotonin.
Therefore, an increase in Tryptophan in the diet would increase the amount of serotonin in the Central Nervous System, thus improving mood and mood, decreasing appetite and promoting rest.
Stress and depression, chemical or psychological origin?
The complexity of the human being makes it impossible to ignore either of the two aspects, and we must look for what happens to the individual, where and when the discomfort began. Balancing food from a global point of view, taking into account the composition of food, but also the texture, taste, smell and color of the food, to supplement the nutrients that affect the emotional process in a depressed, anxious or unmotivated patient, in a framework of listening to the person, beyond the patient.