- Experts assure that it is impossible to dissociate our nutrition from our emotional state.
- Snacking between meals, binge eating or binge eating are some of the ways of eating that reflect mental state.
- Chocolate, red wine, asparagus or oranges among the foods that help reduce levels of stress, anxiety or depression.
Barcelona, May 29, 2018.- We are what we eat. Specialists often use this expression to talk about how food has a direct impact on our health and well-being. But could we rephrase Ludwig Feuerback’s famous quote and say that “we eat as we are”? Indeed, experts say that separating food from the emotional world is impossible in most cases. The food we eat, as well as the way we eat it, are a sign of our ideologies and beliefs (if we are committed to the environment and animal rights, if we seek to improve sports performance or seek to find pleasure in every bite) and also expose some of the feelings or emotional states we face.
Dr. María Isabel Beltrán, nutritionist and member of Top Doctors.es®, an online platform to find and contact the best medical specialists in private healthcare, audited and certified by the most rigorous selection process of doctors in the world, reviews the characteristics of this relationship between food, body and mind, the symptoms of those patients who eat motivated by emotional states and the consequences of poor nutrition.
Binge eating, food compulsions or bulimic crises, symptoms of emotional eating.
The mind works continuously, so our brain requires a constant supply of energy coming largely from the nutrients we eat. The quality and quantity of these foods are the main responsible for our brain and, therefore, our mind, are balanced. The internal characteristics of individuals -their ability to face reality or to relativize, values, tastes or fixations- as well as the environment -work, friends and family, etc.- directly influence food intake.
Dr. Beltrán, from Top Doctors, has drawn up a list of the relationship between the way we eat food and our moods.
- Snacking. In the words of Dr. Beltrán, “eating in a disorderly manner and very frequently, serves to fill an emptiness and clear the mind with a pleasurable activity”. This way of ingesting food can lead to health problems such as indigestion or gastritis, since sometimes this way of eating is linked to doing it standing up, in a hurry and without control of the type of substances that are ingested.
- Eating compulsions: “is one of the most common eating disorders today and are usually gratifications that replace pleasure and guilt in relation to their emotional sphere”. Those who suffer from this disorder eat voraciously, barely chewing or tasting the food. In addition, they often do so in solitude and experience feelings of regret afterwards. “Anxiety, stress, loneliness or boredom are some of the states that lead to excessive food intake. Binge eating can have major health problems, since it involves a significant caloric intake that can cause problems of weight gain or the onset of diseases such as diabetes,” says the doctor.
- Bulimic crises: this is a clear example of the struggle and relationship between the mind and the body. This disorder is mainly experienced by adolescents and women. “Bulimic crises are intended to fill an emptiness and release an internal tension experienced by the person. Those who suffer from them eat without hunger and without the objective of obtaining pleasure,” says the nutritionist. This is a serious problem, since people suffering from bulimic crises leave the body without certain nutrients that end up affecting the neuronal connections. These are weakened and cause those suffering from these eating disorders to become detached from the issues of everyday life.
- Depression: Faced with a difficult experience, such as the loss of a loved one, people may alter their eating behavior. Those who plunge into a depressive crisis may react by stopping eating completely, or on the contrary, eating indiscriminately, compromising in both cases their biological balance and health.
Asparagus, oranges, wine or chocolate… among the key foods to nourish your mind.
People who suffer from repeated episodes of stress, anxiety or depression, should focus their diet on the consumption of products that provide them with the necessary energy and help them get nutrients that help control the mood. The doctor recommends the following foods:
- Asparagus: they contain folic acid, fiber and vitamin B, essential to maintain calm and mental well-being.
- Oranges: the vitamin C contained in oranges stimulates the immune system, and reduces stress, favoring the mood of people.
- Natural yogurt: in addition to activating the intestinal flora, it helps the generation of serotonin, the hormone that regulates mood and sleep, thus favoring stress levels and body temperature.
- Chocolate: eating about 20 grams of dark chocolate a day favors the mood, and also contains a large amount of antioxidants.
- Wine: allowed in almost all diets, specialists advise drinking a glass of red wine a day as it helps prevent depression, anxiety and stress.
Experts advise observing the way we eat, since in most cases, it is a sign that something may be happening to us.