What is emotional eating?

When it becomes a problem

Almost everyone eats emotionally sometimes, but when it becomes your main way of coping, it can undo careful eating and leave you with guilt and shame.

Emotional hunger:

• tends to hit suddenly and urgently
• is often for one specific food, like chips or mithai
• carries on past comfortable fullness

Physical hunger builds slowly and almost any food will do.

Strict dieting is one of the biggest triggers, and stress raises cortisol, which can increase cravings for sugary, fatty and salty food.

What to do before you reach for food

Before you reach for food, pause and ask yourself whether you're actually hungry or reacting to a feeling.

Steps that help:

• Don't let yourself get too hungry: regular meals with protein, like dal, curd, eggs or paneer, keep you steady.
• Keep easy healthy snacks such as fruit, roasted chana or makhana at hand.
• Avoid stocking your personal trigger foods at home.
• Find other comforts, like a walk, a call with a friend or a few minutes of quiet.

If it happens often, talk to a doctor or counsellor, since stress, low mood or pain may be behind it.