Research Says This Could Be The Key To Sticking With A Healthy Diet
If you've ever had a bad day (or even a really good day!) and felt compelled to reach for something indulgent, you wouldn't be alone. But why is that? According to new research published in the journal Food Quality and Preference1, our emotions do indeed influence or dietary habits, and in a few ways you wouldn't necessarily expect. Here's what they found.
Studying the connection between sleep, anxiety, and brain health
For this study, researchers sought to examine how emotional states affect the eating habits of chronic dieters. To do so, they had 150 women record everything they ate over 7 days, as well as the emotions they felt just before eating.
The study methods were simple, but the results were surprising. As study co-author Isaac Williams, Ph.D., explains in a news release, dieting seemed to make women more vulnerable to bad dietary habits when they were experiencing negative emotions: "We found that women who were dieting were significantly more likely to choose unhealthy snacks when they felt negative emotions." Namely, they consumed almost twice as many unhealthy snacks when they felt bad as when they felt good.
Women who weren't dieting, on the other hand, didn't experience the same vulnerability to unhealthy snacks when experiencing a negative emotion. Rather, they tended to eat more overall when they felt positive emotions, such as happiness or excitement.
"We often think of comfort eating as something people do when they're sad, but for many people, being in a good mood can be just as much of a temptation to indulge," Williams notes.
Increasing your emotional awareness
In any case, it's clear that our emotional state can have a significant impact on the food choices we make. One might assume that means emotional regulation can help us make better diet choices, but according to these findings, that's not exactly true.
While the researchers expected emotional regulation skills to come in handy for participants, those who were better at managing emotions were still susceptible to emotional eating. Rather, according to Williams, emotional awareness "seems to be the real key," to making healthy food choices and avoiding those impulsive snacks.
So whether you're personally dieting, or just like the sound of making more clear, intentional food choices, Williams recommends mindfulness exercises, especially before eating.
"We're not as rational about food as we like to think," he says, adding, "Understanding your emotions in real time can help break the cycle of turning to unhealthy snacks when you feel stressed, tired, or overwhelmed."
The takeaway
We're obviously not saying that sweet treats and yummy snacks don't have their place from time to time. But if you're constantly reaching for unhealthy foods as a way to cope with negative emotions, those habits will start to add up. By practicing mindfulness exercises to increase your emotional awareness, whether you're dieting or not, you can make more intentional choices with your food.