Hormones not emotions affect eating patterns
Last Updated Aug 2007
What is commonly called emotional eating ultimately stems from a lack of hormonal
control. In particular, it is how the hormone cortisol affects blood sugar
levels. We think of cortisol as a stress hormone, and one of its actions is to
cause a transient increase in insulin levels as well as accelerate the conversion
of the protein in your muscle mass into glucose for quick energy. Obviously, low
blood sugar is a significant stressor, and increased cortisol secretion is one
mechanism the body has to overcome a potentially dangerous situation for the
brain. However, stress can be any change in your physiological equilibrium. It
could include exercise, temperature changes, emotional changes, etc. Whatever the
cause, the body's response is the same -- increased cortisol secretion that will
eventually cause lowered blood glucose levels and generate increased hunger. This
is why in times of emotional stress, eating excess carbohydrates (especially candy
or other junk foods that can enter the body rapidly) becomes a quick dietary way to
initially help keep the brain happy, but in the process you simply maintain a
continuous cycle of "carbohydrate hell" of rapidly rising and rapidly falling blood
glucose levels. The end result is that you get fatter as you are consuming excess
carbohydrates to try to address drops in blood sugar initiated by increased
cortisol secretion. You might think that cortisol levels are different in lean and
obese individuals. Actually, under non-stressed conditions they are the same. It
is only when you introduce stress that the cortisol levels begin to increase on a
transient basis in overweight individuals. The extent of these cortisol increases
are greater in overweight people than lean; hence they are more prone to emotional
eating due to a transient decrease in blood glucose levels caused by the increase
in cortisol secretion.
Cortisol levels vary throughout the day. They start high in the early morning just
before you wake and then decrease throughout day, reaching their lowest level
before you go to sleep. This is called a circadian rhythm. However, they can peak
after an evening meal. This begins to explain why many people can control their
appetite throughout the day, but after dinner they have a hard time as they are
constantly searching for comfort foods to maintain blood glucose levels that have
decreased due to a transient rise in cortisol. The best solution can be
accomplished by taking high-dose fish oil with your evening meal. The long-chain
omega-3 fatty acids in the fish oil reduce the levels of inflammation in the body,
thus reducing the need for cortisol secretion and minimizing the impact of a
moderate-sized dinner on evening cortisol levels. Having a fish oil chaser right
after dinner may be the best way to control the evening munchies.
Emotional eating does exist, but it is not due to bad karma. It is a consequence
of the inability to keep certain hormones in therapeutic zones in which hunger is
controlled. Willpower is not very effective in combating emotional eating, but
appropriate use of high-dose fish oil is.