Introduction Comfort eating is a big problem in the Western world and is responsible for much of the obesity in the world today. Also known as emotional eating or stress eating, some pe ople tend to gravitate toward food for comfort when faced with certain types of issues . When that desire for food happens, it can result in an almost uncontrollable desire to eat as a way to deal with it . And in certain situations, for many they don’t consciously realize they are eating let alone what they are eating and how much. Very rarely if at all, is it healthy food as it generally is laden with saturated fat, along with an unhealthy dose of sodium and sugar. Comfort eating is actually a type of eating disorder because like many with this kind of disorder, it is not based on physical hunger , but emotional hunger ... in this case , it is a response to an emotional trigger based on something going on in that person’s life at the time. Th at “something” could be hurt feelings as the result of a past drama that gets dr edged up, a poor self - image of oneself brought to the forefront by something that was said , or depression or the popular one of today - excessive stress. In this report, we cover some of the common “ somethings” known as triggers, that cause a comfort e ating binge and why people turn to food to deal with the emotional pain in the first place . Because knowledge is power, once we understand the cause of comfort eating , it is easier predict when it will happen and thus avoid the triggers that causes i t . Kno wing this information can prevent future comfort eating binges from happening at all (or at least from happening as often). Uncontrollable binge comfort eating triggers usually fall into one of three categories: • Emotional • Psychological • Environmental/Situat ional Emotional triggers Th is type of trigger can further be broken down into four groups: • Stuffing • Boredom • Childhood Habits • Social influences • Stress Stuffing One common trigger in this category is a relationship gone wrong. It could be from being dumped by a boyfriend, as a result from a divorce, finding out about the cheating of a spouse, losing a close family member, and the emotions involved can range from anger, fear, sadness, loneliness, resentment and shame. Boredom Some people eat because they are bored and have the feeling of being unfulfilled or an emptiness in their life. As strange as it may seem, eating gives them something to do – a purpose if you will. Childhood Habits Happy things from your childhood can be emotional triggers once an adult Did you r parents reward you with food when you got a good report card for example? Thinking back to those good times can trigger the desire to eat that same food in an effort to feel those same happy feelings again Social influences Also known as peer pressure, it could be you are encouraged to eat at some social gathering and instead of resisting and saying no, you want to “keep the peace” and eat instead. A big one today is the pressure of social media – especially the shaming that goes on. Being sham ed on a social media site where all your friends hang out can bring on an emotional response to eat (or unfortunately in many cases far worse). Stress An of course the big one in today’s world is stress. While we all need some stress in our life to functio n properly, it becomes a problem w hen it becomes chronic or excessive We will see the damage the response to chronic stress can do later on in this report. Psychological Triggers These triggers stem more from negative self - destructive thoughts, usually associated with depression. Of course, the way to prevent these types of triggers is to not have negative thoughts in the first place. To overcome this type of trigger , and as is the case with most psychological triggers in this family, professional help is usually required Environmental/Situational At its core, t his type of trigger stems from taking advantage of an opportunity or situation that presents itself. Let me explain that statement better by giving a couple of examples all of us can identify with. Two op portunities that afflicts many people susceptible to comfort eating is watching television and doing something else while eating a meal ... such as using their smartphone In both cases, the individual is distracted from their eating, so their mind is not on what they are eating, nor how much, so they just eat and eat and eat ... into oblivion during that sitting When finished, they usually feel guilty for binge eating, which in itself can trigger another binge eating episode. Unless intervened, the cycle will continue and the weight will continue to pile on. In the health and fitness world, t his is commonly called mindless eating. To conquer this type of comfort eating, the change must go from mindless eating to mindful eating . In other words, the focus while eating must be on the food and not the distraction. That way it is easier to monitor (and control) how much , and of what type of food , is consumed. And not only will the person eat less, but they will enjoy the food more too With mindless eating, it beco mes a mechanical action to do that doesn’t require any thinking , but with serious health consequences if done too often. The other two types of triggers – emotional and p sychological - are very different from the last one in that both of these types of tri ggers involve stress which when detected by the body invokes the “fight or flight” response. This is a carryover response from our ancestral days when we were still hunters and gatherers. When faced with a potential harmful situation , our body would give u s the necessary energy to either stay and fight or to flee the situation. While we don’t encounter too many mastodons anymore that require a fight or flight response, our body detects stress - emotional or psychological - as the same thing , so consequentl y the response is the same. How the f ight or flight response works Once a stress ful situation is detected , our brain tells the adrenal glands to release some adrenaline which in turn speeds up our heart rate and releases stored glucose and fat for energy t o be used in the upcoming perceived “battle” . Next the adrenal glands release a hormone called cortisol which tells our body to replace the energy previously released by stimulating our appetite to eat high - calorie foods. However, the downside is the brain does not know if the energy released was actually burned up or not. In the case where those calories were not burned, t he person is not replacing anything, but just consuming more calories to the ones already there . And because cortisol can stay in your system for hours after the response, you can be hungry during that whole time ... even if you are currently e ating. You r brain never gets signal that tells it you are full and to stop eating, so you just keep eating and eating until the cortisol is gone , whi ch as mentioned can be hours after the response The real issue today with the fight or flight response is it was only meant to happen occasionally if rarely at all . But in today’s world, chronic stress triggers it daily in many cases, sometimes even more than once a day. So it is easy to see why people suffering from chronic stress can easily pack on unwanted pounds, especially in the belly region. The best way to deal with it is to first recognize when it is happening. Actions to take So what can you do when faced with a stress ful situation ? There are really three things: • Recognize the stress • Eat healthy nutritious whole foods • Do intense exercise routines Recognize the stress Reduce the stress if possible. In the case of work causing the stress, it can m ean deferring jobs to another employee (if you have that power), saying no to additional work (again if you have that power) or framing the stress in a different way. Another way to reduce stress in cases other than work is to avoid the triggers that brin g on the stress response in the first place . Of course, to avoid the triggers, you must first know what they are which is where the professional help can be of value. Once you know your triggers, you can learn to avoid them as much as possible. Regardless of the stressor, when you feel the stress starting to build, sit back close your eyes and breath in and out deeply for a few minutes. Deep breathing not only lessens the fight or flight response, but also releases endorphins which tend to counteract the co rtisol and let you see the situation more clearly and possibly deal with it differently. Eat healthy nutritious whole foods If you are going to eat anyway, a s part of the fight or flight response, make it healthy foods. Always have some f resh fruits and ve getables handy, along with whole grain, nuts, seeds, lean meats, food made with olive oil and some yogurt or kefir and get rid of the junk food that is not good for you You can’t eat high - calorie junk food, if you don’t have any in the house or at the off ice. Not only will you consume fewer calories by eating healthy , but the ones you do consume will be better for you health - wise. Do i ntense exercise routines Once cortisol is released, one of the best ways to get it out of your system as quickly as possibl e is to exercise – a HIIT - type of circuit training done at a high level of intensity , like sprints, mountain climbers or burpees. Not only do these types of exercises burn a lot of calories, they have been found to dissipate cortisol the fastest, so you r b ody can get back to normal. As an alternative, the meditation and breathing exercises associated with yoga also help. These can be done in the privacy of your home or office if you have learned how to do them The best recourse is to identify what triggers your comfort eating response and avoid those triggers where necessary. You can either do this on your own or with the assistance of a professional in this area. The next best recourse is to learn how to deal with a respo nse positively if one happens.