Author: frivvy89
For Ernest Hemingway, it was oysters. For Nora Ephron, it was mashed potatoes. For countless recently dumped film and television characters, it’s ice cream.Humans have been eating our emotions for as long as we can remember. But that doesn’t make it a good idea. There’s a science behind emotional eating and comfort food ― the factors that cause cravings and the ways that giving in to those cravings affects us.The big three hormones: cortisol, dopamine and serotonin.Cortisol is our main stress hormone, triggering our fight-or-flight instinct. It also regulates how our bodies use carbohydrates, fats and proteins. So if we’re…
When that urge to binge strikes, it can feel as impossible to stop as an avalanche. Here’s what to do to bring that binge to a skidding halt: Delay: Postpone eating for 5-10 minutes when you feel an urge. You’re not saying “no” to yourself and you’re not using willpower. Instead, you’re just giving yourself a little space between wanting to binge and doing so. Distract: When you’re busy, you might find the desire to snack or eat or binge disappears. Try an activity that helps you express your feelings, such as writing in a journal or venting to a friend.…
A new study has found that a persistent low body mass index (BMI) in children, starting as young as age 2 for boys and 4 for girls, may be a risk factor for the development of anorexia nervosa in adolescence. In addition, the study, published in the February 2019 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, found that a persistent high BMI in childhood may be a risk factor for later development of bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and purging disorder. This large population study is based on analysis of data from 1,502 individuals who…
Diet culture is such a trap. Our society’s general obsession with weight can make it feel like everyone is preoccupied with “working off” their meals and feeling guilty for eating anything that isn’t green. Even though these kinds of thoughts and behaviors may seem harmless simply because they affect so many people, they’re not.“[We] are often surrounded by people who are dieting and talking about food,” Linda Hamilton, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist specializing in eating disorders, tells SELF. “It’s a big part of our society.” And that relentless focus on food and bodies can seep into your own psyche, leading…
Depression has many origins: it is genetic, triggered by a specific event, certain circumstances or lifestyle choices. But it is a disease of the brain, and researchers find that ensuring it receives the proper nutrients is a way to prevent and treat depression. In the future patients experiencing depression may not only be referenced to a therapist, but a nutritionist as well. It has long been understood that fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean, unprocessed proteins are the best foods for our daily diet, but only over the last 10 years or so have studies begun to show that healthy…
Have you ever wondered why we crave the very foods that we try to avoid when dieting? Or wish there was a way to turn off the craving? Researchers from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have identified new brain circuits that may act as a brake on binge eating and junk food craving. In rats who had spent a month eating a low-fat diet, researchers successfully inhibited the fatty food seeking behaviors. The findings are currently available in Behavioural Brain Research. “Craving for foods high in fat — this includes many junk foods — is an important…
Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in healthGet our free Health Check emailMost of us have turned to food to make ourselves feel better at some point. Whether it is snuggling up with a pot of ice cream following a break-up (channelling an inner Bridget Jones perhaps) or turning to chocolate and biscuits to keep us going through a difficult day at work. This is known as emotional eating, consuming food in response to emotions. But while it may make us feel better initially, in the long run it can have…
It’s January, and we all know what that means: a total inundation of diet talk. It’s EVERYWHERE. TV advertising is filled with diet promotions, “healthy” eating, exercise equipment, gym memberships, and low fat yogurts (although hell, when do those NOT appear in the ad breaks?!). Friends, family, and colleagues are on a mission to lose weight, tone up, or get super heallllltthhyyyyyyy (god, pleeeeeease make it stop). “Lifestyle changes” are being broadcast from the rooftops (it’s still a diet, Susan, don’t kid yourself). It’s really difficult trying to deal with all this talk when you are trying to recover from…
Most of us have turned to food to make ourselves feel better at some point. Whether it is snuggling up with a pot of ice cream following a break up (channelling an inner Bridget Jones perhaps) or turning to chocolate and biscuits to keep us going through a difficult day at work. This is known as emotional eating, consuming food in response to emotions. But while it may make us feel better initially, in the long run, it can have a negative impact on our health. We are all aware that obesity is a major societal issue with rates still…
We are 6 days into 2019, and here I am – brimming with possibility, opportunity, a new job, dreams: And, like clockwork, a post-holiday body image crisis steaming Titanic-force ahead. #Bliss. via GIPHY Maybe it’s the fitness Instagram ads peppering my feed, or the insidious amount of leftover sweets positioned as a shrine on our kitchen counter, haunting my waking hours. Or the return to schedule after 15 days of nonstop travel and eating out. Or maybe I’m just basking in the blooming guilt of what I ate over the holidays. Whatever the reason, it happens almost every January. And…