For those who reach for a cookie when times get tough, stress may take a toll on the waistline.
Researchers found that for people who said stress often drove them to eat, the comfort food of choice tended to be greasy, salty or sweet. Not surprisingly, such "stress-driven" eaters, particularly women, weighed more on average.
The researchers looked at over 5,000 individuals at four points in their lives -- birth and ages 1, 14 and 31. At age 31, the participants' body mass index, eating habits and methods of coping with stress were studied. Those who said they often or sometimes tried to make themselves feel better by eating and drinking were designated as stress-driven eaters.
The researchers found that these individuals were more likely than others to frequently eat pizza, hamburgers, sausages and chocolate. They also drank more alcohol, on average.
For both men and women, body mass index -- a measure of weight, taking height into account -- was higher among stress-driven eaters than others. For women, obesity was associated with eating to cope with stress.
Men were more likely to eat in the face of stress if they were single, divorced or frequently unemployed. The tendency was also seen in men with academic degrees -- which is surprising since higher education is often linked to lower rates of obesity.
They speculate that the young men in this study may be more susceptible to stress caused by on-the-job demands compared with older, more experienced workers.
Among women, those who felt a lack of emotional support in their lives had a greater tendency to eat to cope with stress. The researchers conclude that efforts to prevent or treat obesity should address the ways in which people cope with stress.
Preventive Medicine January 2002;34:29-39
Following an optimal eating plan is essential to maintaining ideal weight for most of us. Unfortunately, will power just doesn't cut it for most of us.
I have found that EFT can be enormously useful for helping individuals get over the 72-hour hump. Applying basic EFT seems to help most individuals get over the food cravings.
This hump is an enormously challenging time that is related to elevated insulin levels that are present due to eating sugar and grains. Once a person is able to eliminate them for 72 hours, their insulin levels tend to normalize and the cravings, which are generally due to elevated insulin levels, decrease quite dramatically.
During the 72-hour hump, it will be important to eat every two hours to make sure one's blood sugar doesn't crash and cause severe headaches and brain dysfunction.
After abstaining from sugar and grains for 72 hours, the program becomes much easier to follow. The only food cravings that are left are those due to emotional issues.
EFT can be enormously useful here also, but it usually requires the help of a skilled therapist to help one work through the issues.
If you are interested in finding out how you can learn EFT please go to the EFT Resource page to find a number of different options that are available.
Through extensive research I have found another tool to use in the area of stress management that is a remarkably effective and efficient (and very affordable) way to help you achieve inner peace and significantly reduce stress and anxiety.
The Insight audio CD, which I personally listen to and now recommend to my patients, is an exceptional tool to help you target the daily stresses in your life that could lead to psychological addictions such as overeating and also act as prime contributors to all forms of diseases.
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