Whenever I have a big exam coming up or a huge assignment due, I always find myself eating the worst possible foods. If I have a huge test on Friday, I’ll most likely be having chicken finders and french fries the night before and white cheddar popcorn all week while studying. I was wondering if there’s a correlation between bad eating habits and stress.
According to health.canoe.ca , during difficult times the first thing that suffers is our diet. Reports show that people don’t think food tastes any better than usual, but that eating is something to do. Food will temporarily fill a void, even if it’s not for long. According to eatingdisordershelpguide.com, stress has an extremely powerful effect on your appetite and food choice. We crave sugary and fatty foods during a time of stress. So, stress most definitely can cause some people to create poor eating habits, but also I found that poor eating habits can cause people stress. I know personally after I eating something really unhealthy, I start to feel bad about it and maybe even stress out some more. There is definitely chance for reverse causation in this topic. Now that I’ve recognized my problem of stress eating hopefully it’ll be easier for me to stop myself next time I’m preparing for a huge exam.
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/diet-weight-loss/emotional-eating.htm
http://chealth.canoe.ca/channel_section_details.asp?text_id=1541&channel_id=44&relation_id=48473
Hey Abigail, I am definitely a prime example of stress eating. When I have a midterm coming up or a test in general I absolutely eat more than usual and most of what I eat wouldn’t be considered healthy. When I stay awake to study I always find myself snacking on treats when I’m not even hungry. Heres a link to why stress leads us to overeat http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/harvard_mental_health_letter/2012/february/why-stress-causes-people-to-overeat
One aspect to think about when researching the effect of stress on unhealthy eating is whether certain topics or types of stress cause eating. Is the hunger elicited solely from academic stress? Or does it occur from stress over ones job or romantic life. I think determining the type of stress one is under when they look to eat would be an important factor in learning how to stop this.
Although I haven’t thought about it much before, I am most definitely guilty of stress eating! After doing some more research on this topic, I found an article that suggests ways to stop stress eating. I found it very interesting that the article suggests eating a mandarin orange. It is healthy and sweet, and the article even suggests that peeling the orange will occupy and calm you! Here is the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/21/stress-eating_n_4107759.html
I do this every time I am in my room studying, doing work, or just sitting near my food. I am constantly eating when I’m sitting at my desk, and I feel like it helps me study and stay awake. I definitely agree with the reverse causation, because I know that after I eat a ton of food because I’m stressed I do feel bad and stress more!
I think that there definitely could be a link between stress and a poor diet but I do not think it is proven. Remember that correlation does not equal causation. I like how you mentioned that it could be due to reverse causation. I think it is possible that people who eat unhealthy foods or overeat have the tendency to be more stressed. Also, make sure you also consider third variables. There could be other things causing you to over eat before an exam other than stress.