Stress Eating Resolves with Whole-Person Care
If you need help resolving stress-eating patterns, I offer a comprehensive approach that nurtures body, mind, and soul. Here, I provide an overview of my holistic approach and some tools that will enable you to have a healthy relationship with food and your inner self. To reach me now, click below. I look forward to supporting you on your healing journey!
Emotional Healing and Stress Eating
Stress Eating, also referred to as emotional eating, is a pattern where people use food to help deal with stressful situations. Many experience emotional eating at one time or another. However, women are more vulnerable to this pattern due to hormonal fluctuations and various psycho-social stressors that affect them more than men.
When emotional eating becomes a habit or the primary way of coping with emotions, it may negatively affect your life, health, happiness, weight, body image, and self-esteem.
Guilt feelings or negative self-talk can perpetuate the issue of binge eating or carbohydrate craving to alleviate these strong emotions. Unfortunately, discouragement or depression may result from this cyclical pattern.
Whole-person care addresses the underlying emotional patterns that contribute to stress eating patterns. With integrative therapies and support, you will be increasingly able to meet your health goals, including healthy eating.
Mood Follows Food
The key to resolving stress eating is managing emotional stress healthfully. A holistic nutrition approach is a powerful way to resolve stress eating because it includes sound nutritional science and supportive therapy that encourages, validates, and supports positive change. Healing the core psycho-spiritual issues is essential to resolving the self-esteem wounds that often occur with this eating pattern.
Emotional eating can sometimes present as an addiction to specific foods or types of foods, such as refined carbohydrates (carbs). Research indicates that highly processed foods contribute to many mental health issues. It can also manifest as a binge eating disorder. This post addresses emotional and compulsive eating, which differs from the more severe binge eating disorder. Still, stress eating is prevalent in all populations, genders, and ages and causes or exacerbates depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.
Many people have learned about healthy diets and nutrition but need help applying the knowledge. The reasons are many, but often there are psycho-spiritual wounds that need healing. My role is to support your healing process within an integrative health model that provides you with coping skills and confidence to comfort yourself in healthy ways.
7 Steps to Reduce Carb Cravings, Improve Blood Sugar, Mood, Energy, and More.
- Eat a whole-foods diet, and replace junk foods with healthier options. Also, artificial sweeteners should be eliminated because they increase cravings for junk foods.
- Keep your blood sugar stabilized by eating quality protein and healthy fats with each meal. And, if hypoglycemic, try eating smaller, more frequent meals, but wait until your stomach is empty. Snacking is considered unhealthy. Doing this will make you more successful in maintaining healthy portion sizes. Also, protein creates amino acids that make important neurotransmitters for balancing mood, energy, motivation, cognition, and sleep.
- Eat a rainbow diet of vegetables, healthy fruits, and berries.
- Stay hydrated by increasing clear fluids upon awakening and at least thirty minutes before meals. Since coffee causes dehydration, drink extra water if using coffee. Importantly, caffeine should be avoided if you suffer from anxiety.
- Get tested for yeast overgrowth. If this is an issue, following a candida diet is essential. Since yeast overgrowth can cause intense carbohydrate cravings, obtaining professional guidance and support.
- Consider the adrenal diet. Recognize that there is not one diet that works for all people. So many factors affect our dietary patterns, including our metabolic and blood type, constitutional type, activity level, location, season, and what our ancestors ate. Also, food allergies, sensitivities, and specific health conditions dictate what is optimal. However, I often recommend incorporating the principles of an adrenal diet for healthy mood management and cravings. See below for details.
- It is also important to be gentle with yourself and consciously nurture yourself healthily. Be patient with your progress. The Bach flower remedy Gentian helps those who give up easily. For more information, see my Blog, Bach Flower Personality Test, and the next section on the adrenal diet. Questions? Contact me below. Thanks.
How Balancing Your Adrenal Glands Effects Stress Eating and Carbohydrate Cravings
An adrenal diet is beneficial for resolving stress eating and carbohydrate cravings. This dietary approach balances cortisol and blood sugar, positively affecting health by optimizing the timing and quality of carbohydrates, protein, and fats. A research abstract supports some of the same principles incorporating circadian rhythm research. See, Daytime eating prevents mood vulnerability at night. It is also essential to follow the above six steps while incorporating the principles of an adrenal diet if it feels right for you. Remember, we are all unique; you may want to modify it according to your needs.
A simplified explanation of the adrenal diet begins with replacing carbs at breakfast with healthy proteins and fats. Then, lunch allows for one serving of healthy carbs, and supper allows for two servings. Every meal includes healthy protein, fats, and a rainbow of vegetables or fruits. An evening snack that provides protein, fat, and two servings of healthy carbs at least two hours before retiring will optimize sleep. People often wake up around 3 am due to cortisol and blood sugar fluctuations. This lifestyle change will stabilize blood sugar and cortisol, which, when imbalanced, improves sleep and reduces carbohydrate cravings with its resulting mood and energy swings.
When you are not experiencing adrenal fatigue or dysglycemia, intermittent fasting can be practiced according to your particular needs and lifestyle. Medical advice is sometimes beneficial regarding this or any other dietary changes you wish to make.
For more information on adrenals and stress, see my Blog, Chronic Stress Resolves with Integrative Therapies. Thanks.
Stress > Inflammation > Depression > Pain > Self Medication
To understand how stress affects emotional eating and addictive patterning, here is a brief explanation:
Many forms of stress include psychological and relational, environmental, poor diet, and exposure to various toxins and allergens. Any of these stressors can cause a damaged intestinal lining. Leaky gut syndrome, as it is commonly called, is a significant cause of inflammation in the body. GI inflammation also leads to an inflamed brain, impairing neurotransmitter production. Other effects of an inflamed gut may include depression, anxiety, and physical pain. To alleviate these symptoms, you may turn to self-medication through food, alcohol, or other potentially addictive behaviors. For more information, see this article on inflammation as a predictor of impulsivity.
Therefore, to fully overcome stress eating, it’s crucial to adopt a comprehensive approach to stress management. This includes improving your attitude, learning effective coping strategies, and removing other physical or spiritual barriers to healing. This knowledge empowers you to take control of your well-being.
Adopting a holistic nutrition approach for stress eating can bring about many benefits. Improved mood, sleep, and energy are just some positive outcomes. This can lead to a more hopeful outlook, reducing the need to binge, overeat, or crave carbs.
For guidance and support, please get in touch with me below. I look forward to hearing from you! Thanks!
Reducing Emotional Triggers that lead to Stress Eating
Like all addictions, recognizing emotional triggers is essential for relapse prevention of emotional eating. In Alcoholics Anonymous, there is a saying: ‘HALT,’ which stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. This is also helpful to remember when you have food cravings. Asking yourself what you are feeling and what you need will help interrupt the habits you intend to change. It is vital to meet those needs in healthy ways then. For example, if you are lonely, reach out to people you trust and be sure to share your feelings.
Also, being aware of any tendency to overeat when bored is crucial. Boredom is a mask for anxiety and restlessness. Paying attention to which stress management tools work best for you will help you manage your emotions the next time you reach out to food.
Well-meaning friends or relatives may also be social triggers for emotional eating. Ask yourself, “Who encourages me to make unhealthy food or other poor choices?” Do you tend to stress eat when alone or with certain people? Learning and practicing assertive communication and boundary setting is vital to overcoming emotional eating.
8 Important Holistic Nutrition Change Principles
- Identify positive changes that you feel comfortable making.
- Identify substitutions for your addictive foods.
- Eliminate addictive foods one at a time. However, it is often best to eliminate sugar entirely if you do not succeed going more slowly.
- Make the connection between nutrition and mood by increasing your self-awareness throughout the day, and especially in the evening, when most people binge on carbohydrates.
- Practice mindful eating and grocery shopping. If you do not bring it home, it is easier to select healthier foods when you feel vulnerable.
- Address any food allergies and sensitivities. We often crave foods to which we are sensitive. N.A.E.T. is one of many therapies that help with emotional and physical food allergies and sensitivities.
- Reach out to friends and family for emotional support.
- Get professional help as needed. If I am right for you, please get in touch with me below.
PTSD, Trauma Healing, and Stress Eating
Stress eating often accompanies various anxiety and mood disorders, including traumatic stress. Those with PTSD or a history of complex trauma frequently suffer from intrusive thoughts and feelings. Food is easily accessible and often used to suppress these symptoms.
Unresolved trauma may be a significant reason many fail to achieve their health goals. These goals may include eating a healthy diet, losing weight, improving body image, optimizing sleep, and exercising more often. Trauma resolution begins with learning various coping and stress management skills. These provide a helpful framework for the safe processing of emotions.
Practicing grounding techniques is also essential to recovery from trauma. These may include massaging your feet, walking in nature, practicing yoga, and creating daily routines such as eating regular healthy meals.
Additionally, trust issues are often a consequence of trauma. Examples of flower remedies that may help include Holly, Post-Trauma Stabilizer and Five-Flower Formula. Please see Plant Therapies for more information. Thanks.
Resolving Emotional Eating Patterns by Healing Attachment Issues
Another essential aspect of holistic nutrition and healing emotional eating patterns is exploring your relationship with your mother or primary caregivers. How you were nurtured directly relates to your ability to care for yourself.
Some maternal bonding issues to consider include the following: Were you breastfed? What happened when you were in the womb, and what was your psycho-emotional development as a child or teenager? How and what were you fed? What was the quality of the food and the cultural aspects of eating? No matter how you were programmed, you can re-program yourself with intention and self-care!
Flower essence therapy is an important modality that helps us do just that! For example, Mariposa Lily nurtures the inner child and helps transform issues related to unmet nurturing.
Please contact me below for your free initial consultation and to get the help you are searching for!
Caring for Your Soul Alleviates Emotional Eating
There is a wealth of information available on what constitutes a healthy diet. However, knowledge alone will not resolve the underlying issues involved in stress eating. Indeed, holistic nutrition goes beyond physical science and addresses the underlying psycho-spiritual factors and relationship and social stressors that may be the underlying reasons for the behaviors.
Exploring and caring for your soul’s (psyche’s) core emotional issues and learning healthy coping skills is also essential. Additionally, it is vital to learn and practice anxiety, stress, and anger management skills such as expressive therapies, mindfulness training, progressive relaxation, yoga, breath work, and sleep hygiene.
Walking in nature is also incredibly therapeutic. Honoring your creativity is especially helpful for raising your energy and experiencing joy. We are all naturally creative. What brings you joy?
Integrative Mental Health Therapies Reduce Stress Eating.
Many therapies support the healing of emotional eating patterns and overall health. These include massage and bodywork, acupuncture, and yoga. Meditation, prayer, homeopathy, and plant medicine are also very effective.
I strongly recommend daily journaling and dream work to optimize your recovery. Since all knowledge is within us, you may receive specific health guidance in your dreams. Dreams pertaining to our health are called prodromal dreams that may foretell illness if you do not make the necessary lifestyle changes. You may also receive guidance related to any of your life’s issues. Examples include gaining insight regarding your psychological or relationship patterns, diet, nutritional supplement needs, or even the best exercises or yoga postures to practice. Because all have access to our inner wisdom, we are all naturally psychic. For more information, see Services, Dream Exploration. Thanks.
Stress Eating Summary
There are many ways to address emotional eating patterns. My practice incorporates many avenues for your consideration. Much of my work involves helping you re-program your unconscious. If you are struggling with emotional distress, supportive counseling, integrative therapies, holistic nutrition, and plant medicine approaches will help nourish your inner self and help you become conscious of your true needs. Then, it becomes easier to honor them.
Additional Resources
You may already be familiar with or even use a variety of health products to support your health. In addition to therapy, some additional support may be especially beneficial for alleviating adrenal imbalances, carbohydrate cravings, anxiety, sleep, and mood issues. As a service to you, I offer professional-grade products with a 15-26% discount off retail. Or, I may suggest alternative resources, such as your local health food store. You may also choose to focus primarily on psychotherapy and other wellness approaches. For more details, see irisheal.com/health-products. Please contact me with any questions or to book a session. Thanks.
For more information, see Services, Integrative Medicine for Mental Health,
Resources, Health Information,
and Blogs, Holistic Nutrition, Ecotherapy, Soul-care, and Meditation,
Also, see ewg.org; Environmental Working Group offers research-based consumer health guides and more.
Ready to book a consult? Please get in touch with me HERE for your free consultation. Thanks!