What we’ll cover:

• A deep-dive into what emotional eating and how it can impact us
• Understanding the causes and drivers of emotional eating

In our day-to-day lives, emotions often shape what we do, especially when it comes to food. Emotional eating happens when we make food choices based on how we feel rather than because we’re hungry. Learning how emotions influence what we eat is a big step towards improving your long-term health and reaching your goals.

At Roczen, we’re here to help you achieve your goals and maintain them. A key part of this is recognising how emotions and food choices are connected, which can sometimes get in the way of progress.

Common causes of emotional eating‍

Our relationship with food is complex. Sometimes, what we eat isn’t about satisfying hunger but about how we feel in the moment. Here are some of the key reasons emotional eating happens:

• Comfort eating:Sometimes, we reach for familiar foods that soothe us by making us feel good or remind us of happy times. These foods can temporarily help us escape life’s challenges.
• Stress:Stress is a big trigger. It can push us toward foods high in fat or sugar because they make us feel good briefly. These foods release dopamine (a ‘feel-good’ hormone), but the effect doesn’t last, leading to more cravings and a cycle that’s hard to break.
• Boredom:When we’re bored, we might snack without even thinking about it. These snacks are often quick and convenient but rarely healthy, turning eating into a way to pass the time rather than satisfy hunger.
• Loneliness:Feeling lonely or isolated can lead us to use food as comfort. These choices are often about how the food makes us feel, not how healthy it is.
• Reward:Celebrations or personal wins often include indulgent food, or maybe a drink. Ordering your favourite takeaway or digging into a tub of ice cream can become a way of rewarding yourself, even when it’s not the healthiest choice. Whilst this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it becomes a problem when done too frequently.
• Unpleasant emotions:Sadness, frustration, or anger might lead to us eating as a coping mechanism or to distract ourselves. Food becomes a temporary escape, but it doesn’t fix how we feel.
• Habits:Over time, we link certain emotions or times of day with specific foods. For example, many people reach for a snack around 3pm as a break during a busy day. This is often driven by the need for a break or boredom, as opposed to actual hunger.
• Social and cultural influences:Social gatherings, traditions, and cultural norms can shape our eating habits, too. During emotional moments, we might lean towards foods that bring comfort but aren’t the healthiest.

In the next part of this series on emotional eating, we explore how to start identifying patterns in your own food choices and proactively monitor them.

Summary:

Emotional eating happens when feelings, rather than physical hunger, influence our food choices, often leading us to select high-fat, high-sugar comfort foods for temporary relief from stress, sadness, loneliness, or boredom. Habits and routines, such as reaching for snacks during a stressful afternoon, as well as cultural and social influences, like celebratory indulgences, can reinforce these patterns over time. While these foods may provide short-term comfort or distraction, they often lack nutritional value and create cycles of cravings and emotional dependency. Recognising these triggers is the first step towards breaking the cycle and making healthier, more intentional food choices that support long-term well-being.