How to eliminate anxiety for food, in 7 steps
In the act of eating, although it may seem only a physical act, psychological variables also intervene. For this reason, in recent times, there is a certain awareness of how the emotional state affects our diet and how it affects our emotional state.
In fact, as we explained in the article "Nocturnal Dining Syndrome: causes, symptoms and treatment of this eating disorder", anxiety or depression can lead a person to experience a strong desire to eat. Now, the anxiety to eat can have different causes: psychological, endocrine, contextual causes, etc.
In this article We will talk about eating anxiety and what we can do to reduce it .
- Related article: "Psychology and Nutrition: the importance of emotional feeding"
How to eliminate anxiety about eating
Reducing the anxiety to eat is possible if you carry out different strategies that include mental, nutritional, lifestyle aspects, etc. But what are these strategies? In the following lines we explain them to you.
1. 5 daily meals
Nutritional factors play a very important role when developing anxiety for food. In this sense, the times we eat and the number of times we eat it per day It affects our level of hunger. If we have a more or less fixed schedule, we give a message to the body when we are going to eat food.
On the other hand, eat 5 meals a day It is key for the body to be well nourished and there are less possibilities to snack between meals . If we feel satiated, the anxiety to eat is reduced.
2. Remove from your sight those foods you do not want to eat
Many times anxiety about eating may arise because we have seen that chocolate bar in the fridge or those cookies in the kitchen cupboard. There are foods that are irresistible temptations, especially those rich in fat and sugar . In fact, food stimulates the same brain regions as drugs, because some behaviors should be reinforced.
A biological strategy serves to repeat pleasurable behaviors and to favor the survival of the species. The area of the reinforcement, which is the cerebral region that intervenes in this process, is located in the Ventral Tegmental Area.
- Related article: "Ventral tegmental area: anatomy, functions and disorders"
3. Eat complex carbohydrates
Our diet can make us more or less hungry during the day. An example of this is when we eat industrial pastries and foods that cause hyperglycemia. We may feel satiated at the moment, but soon we feel a great anxiety to eat. The best alternative is to eat foods with complex carbohydrates For example, brown rice, which keep blood sugar at bay and keep us sated for longer.
- Related article: "The 16 most satiating and ideal foods to lose weight"
4. Get physical exercise
Anxiety about food can also appear when we do not have healthy habits that allow us to be disciplined. Therefore, practicing physical exercise and eating healthy foods keeps us at bay and helps us in our general well-being. Positive self-esteem, which increases if we do not obsess about sports training, also affects our mood. This also has an effect when it comes to not feeling anxious about food .
5. Practice Mindfulness eating
Mindfulness is an ancient practice that has its origin in Buddhist wisdom, and that allows a person to live in the present moment, in connection with himself and that helps to adopt a self-pity mentality.
Mindfulness can also be related to eating , what is known as conscious feeding. This practice allows a change towards a healthy life, towards the encounter with our own body and what we eat, which provides a greater enjoyment of food, greater health and reduces the anxiety to eat.
6. Become aware of what you eat and find out
But you can not only become aware of what you eat with Mindfulness eating, but you can also learn about food and nutrition, something that will give you knowledge and help you choose those foods that will make you feel better. Eat foods low in sugar, high in fiber or high in protein they are options that will allow us to reduce the anxiety to eat. Sure your body will thank you, and your mind too.
7. Go to the psychologist
Many habits that we have can affect our well-being, and at the time of eating the same thing can happen.In addition, some people may suffer emotional problems or disorders that cause anxiety to eat. We have already talked about the Nocturnal Dining Syndrome in the entry of this article, but there are other disorders, for example, Binge Eating Disorder, which are also related to anxiety.
On the other hand, depression can lead a person to eat large amounts of food . Because of this, after the anxiety to eat there may be a psychological problem that must be treated by a specialist, and psychologists can do an excellent job in this regard.
Nutrition psychology
A current that is having more and more acceptance and in which the work of the psychologist is extremely important is the Psychology of food. And is that our mind and our body are closely related , and that is why the anxiety for food can be understood from this discipline.
The psychology of eating covers such interesting topics as: What foods affect our mood? O: How the management of emotions is crucial when it comes to following a diet plan?
- If you want to know more about this area, you can read the article: "Psychology of the feeding: definition and applications"
