When we experience strong feelings, it`s natural to rely on things beyond ourselves to help us survive. These coping mechanisms can be positive, like working out or writing, or negative, like alcohol and drugs. For some people, food is the outlet they rely on when feeling out of control emotionally. Emotional eating is a way to suppress worrisome feelings for many people.

For some folks, emotional eating only means eating a little mac and cheese after a bad day at work. For many, however, this is a dangerous addiction that can lead to obesity and health troubles. Most comfort foods are full of calories, sugar, and salt, which all can cause health complications when eaten in excessive quantities.

There are plenty of factors that can trigger emotional eating. Important life incidences, or even day to day irritations can push emotional eaters to the fridge. For many, eating can also be a means of relief from boredom. There is a chemical explanation behind emotional eating as well. Many popular comfort foods release chemicals or hormones that improve your feelings, so they can be chemically as well as psychologically comforting.

Emotional eating is a difficult habit to break. However, there are a few suggestions to help quit this dangerous tendency. It`s vital to understand how to tell the difference between true hunger and an emotionally motivated urge to eat. If you know that you aren`t really hungry, give it a few minutes to see if the urge disappears. Emotional hunger differ(s) from physical hunger in a couple manners. It comes on fast, while true hunger is slower. Actual hunger is a general feeling of emptiness, while emotional hunger will make you crave something in particular. Emotional eating is also more likely to cause feelings of guilt afterwards.

Don`t keep comfort foods nearby, because it`s much less difficult to resist those impulses when inducement isn`t readily available. Strive to replace unhealthy comfort foods with healthier alternatives. Make a inventory of activities you can do to distract yourself when emotional eating threatens, such as go for a walk, take a short nap, or read a book. Finally, finding the help of a therapist to address the hidden reasons for emotional eating can be very helpful.