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Chronic stress a trigger to high-fat eating
By USA TODAY
Published: 11/2/2009 2:27 AM
Last Modified: 11/2/2009 9:47 AM
WASHINGTON — Many people say they eat more when they are under stress. Others eat less.
But people under chronic stress are more likely than others to say that they eat fattening foods and feel that their eating is out of control, according to a study presented at a recent meeting of the Obesity Society.
In one of the largest surveys ever to examine the relationship between chronic stress and eating behaviors, researchers at the University of California-San Francisco questioned more than 600 women who are overweight or obese about their eating habits and life stressors.
The women were categorized as having chronic stress if they had ongoing stressful situations such as being unable to pay rent or mortgage; feeling stuck in a job they don't like; having a spouse or partner who expects too much of them or doesn't understand them; having a child who is doing poorly in school; or acting as a family caregiver for someone in poor health.
The researchers found that people who had greater chronic stress were more likely than the other survey participants to say they ate high-fat foods and felt that they lacked control over their eating and hunger.
Those who were chronically stressed also were more likely to rely on "rigid restraint" to try to control their weight, including vowing to avoid fattening foods and skipping meals, says Elissa Epel, an associate professor in the department of psychiatry at UCSF. "We know from other research that these techniques tend to backfire and people end
up overeating and gaining weight," she says.
"Chronic stress really taxes people's ability to self-monitor their eating behavior. In our current environment of abundantly rich food, we need every ounce of conscious effort to manage our eating, because eating is an automatic behavior we can do too easily and too often if we're not mindful."
Lisa Groesz, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF, says people under chronic stress should try to notice the difference between emotional hunger and true physical hunger.
By USA TODAY
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