{"id":137,"date":"2011-03-01T21:23:34","date_gmt":"2011-03-01T21:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emotionaleatingreport.com\/blog\/?p=137"},"modified":"2011-03-01T21:23:34","modified_gmt":"2011-03-01T21:23:34","slug":"sweets-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/emotionaleatingreport.com\/blog\/sweets-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are Sweets A Particular Problem For Emotional Eaters?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Many emotional eaters don\u2019t care what they eat when they are triggered with a negative feeling.\u00a0 They eat whatever they can find in the kitchen because they have been conditioned to eat.<\/p>\n

Other emotional eaters specifically crave sweets.\u00a0 They will eat non-sweets if that is all that\u2019s available, but they prefer sweets when they have been triggered (or when beliefs drive them) to eat.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why emotional eaters prefer sweets<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>There is research that explains why many emotional eaters prefer sweets.\u00a0 In a Newsweek<\/em> article (June 25, 2009), Kate Dailey described some of the research.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe desire for sweetness is hardwired into humans\u2014give babies a little sugar on their lips and they’ll smile. That’s because up until the advent of artificial additives, sweet flavors signified calorie-dense foods. …<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether one likes the taste of sugar a little or a lot, sweet foods react with everyone’s brains in the same way\u2014by producing a rush of chemicals, including dopamine, which creates an opiate-like effect. \u2018In Sweden, sweet-tasting foods like sugar solutions are used as anesthetic to do minor surgeries,\u2019 says Dr. Kampov-Polevi. \u00a0Sugar water is also used in the US on babies for minor procedures like blood draws.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Consider why emotional eaters eat when confronted with negative feelings.<\/strong> As I\u2019ve described in detail in prior posts, they want to escape those feelings by going numb.\u00a0 To the extent that sweet foods, in particular, numb us somewhat, then sweet foods would be the most effective type of food to give an emotional eater what she wants.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sweets reduce anxiety<\/strong><\/p>\n

Further research indicates that in addition to numbing us, sweet foods also create positive feelings that serve as a pleasurable distraction, thereby effectively reducing the stress that is caused by most negative feelings.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Charles Raison, at Psychiatrist at Emory University Medical School, points out that, \u201cIn addition to stimulating brain reward centers, sweet food markedly affects stress hormones in ways likely to provide a sense of temporary reprieve from anxiety.\u201d\u00a0 That is precise what emotional eaters want.<\/p>\n

One of the most impressive studies to demonstrate how sugar reduces stress was reported on by UPI just a few months ago (November 10, 2010).\u00a0 The wire service story states:<\/p>\n

\u201cEating, sex and other pleasurable activities provide more than enjoyment, they reduce stress by inhibiting anxiety responses in the brain<\/strong>, U.S. researchers say. [Emphasis added.]<\/p>\n

\u201cYvonne Ulrich-Lai, a research assistant professor, and James Herman, professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience, both at the University of Cincinnati, and colleagues also indicate that these reduced-stress effects continue for at least seven days.<\/p>\n

“\u2019These findings give us a clearer understanding of the motivation for consuming \u201ccomfort food\u201d during times of stress,\u2019 Ulrich-Lai says in a statement. \u2018But it’s important to note that, based on our findings, even small amounts of pleasurable foods can reduce the effects of stress.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cTwice a day rats were provided access to a sugar solution for two weeks. The rats with access to sugar had reduced heart rates and stress hormone levels \u2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cRats fed a solution artificially sweetened with saccharin showed similar stress reduction responses, as did rats given access to sexually responsive partners. But sugar supplied directly to the stomach did not blunt the rats’ stress response, the researchers say.<\/p>\n

“\u2019This indicates that the pleasurable properties of tasty foods, not the caloric properties, were sufficient for stress reduction,\u2019 Ulrich-Lai says.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it might be somewhat harder to stop eating sweets than other foods, it still is possible to de-condition eating so that it is no longer the main way emotional eaters deal with negative feelings.\u00a0 Moreover, it is possible to eliminate the beliefs and conditionings that cause the negative feelings.\u00a0 And even most importantly, it is possible to learn to live with negative feelings without having to do anything to \u201ccope\u201d with them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more details, please see my eBook, The Secret to Ending Overeating For Good<\/em>, at http:\/\/emotionaleatingreport.com<\/a>.\u00a0 You also can get answers to specific questions at my office, 415-884-0552.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many emotional eaters don\u2019t care what they eat when they are triggered with a negative feeling.\u00a0 They eat whatever they can find in the kitchen because they have been conditioned to eat. Other emotional eaters specifically crave sweets.\u00a0 They will eat non-sweets if that is all that\u2019s available, but they prefer sweets when they have … Continue reading “Why Are Sweets A Particular Problem For Emotional Eaters?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/emotionaleatingreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/emotionaleatingreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/emotionaleatingreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/emotionaleatingreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/emotionaleatingreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/emotionaleatingreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139,"href":"http:\/\/emotionaleatingreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions\/139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/emotionaleatingreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/emotionaleatingreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/emotionaleatingreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}