Emotional eating is widespread because we do not eat just out of hunger. Food is closely linked to emotions and can help regulate feelings. In this interview, nutritionist Dr. Kathrin Vergin explains the connection between food and the psyche and shows paths to healthy eating habits.
MEDICOM: "Emotional eating" – what does this term mean?
Dr. Vergin: Emotional eating occurs whenever we reach for food due to emotions, even though we are not physically hungry. This is the rule rather than the exception, as eating behavior is by no means determined solely by hunger. Instead, it is a complex process significantly influenced by psychological and social factors. Upbringing, and thus ingrained habits and beliefs, play an important role in eating behavior, as do the social habits of our current environment and, of course, our emotional state. We eat to celebrate, to reward ourselves, to relax, or to comfort ourselves. Such emotional expressions are part of normal eating behavior; they only become problematic when we lack alternatives for coping.
MEDICOM: Does conditioning play a role in our eating behavior?
Dr. Vergin: A very significant one! Our eating behavior is largely shaped in childhood because we learn it from our parents. Therefore, we should always try to maintain and strengthen our children’s natural perception of hunger and satiety. Instead of the usual encouragement to eat more or even to finish the plate, we should rely more on natural instincts and physiological regulation in everyday parenting and not excessively motivate children to consume food. Urging children to eat reduces their sense of being full. Parental attention and authority are momentarily felt to be more important than their own satiety. Through such simple but repeated signals, a significant foundation for the later development of obesity can be laid, possibly given a corresponding genetic predisposition. Children also learn addictive behavior from their parents, as well as comforting and rewarding themselves with certain, usually high-calorie, foods.
Further conditioning takes place when, for example, we leave home after completing our education. Now we are no longer monitored or regulated while eating, but can choose freely. This can sometimes change eating behavior. At a later stage in our lives, changes caused by, for example, illnesses, traumas, or the loss of loved ones come into play. We might then change our eating behavior to comfort ourselves or to fill emotional voids. Perhaps we even fall back into the dietary patterns of our childhood in the process.
Food can be soothing. Under stress, it can therefore happen that we try to self-regulate through food intake.
MEDICOM: What role does stress play in our eating behavior?
Dr. Vergin: A major one. Food can be soothing. Under stress, it can therefore happen that we try to self-regulate through food intake. If we are chronically stressed, this can turn into addictive eating behavior. We are then constantly eating not out of hunger, and we no longer notice a feeling of satiety. This is also due to constant snacking: those who eat all the time always give the stomach something to do. Hunger never sets in. Therefore, we can only eat based on feelings or appetite, but less out of hunger.
Furthermore, stress inhibits the ability to control one's own eating behavior. Especially people who try to restrain themselves, e.g., while on a diet, often fail once they reach a certain level of stress, and then feel even more stressed afterward due to the loss of control. In my work over the last few years, I have been able to successfully demonstrate time and again that discipline is a resource that gets exhausted and must be recharged. Overburdening oneself through one's own perfectionism is not the right way to live a healthier life.
MEDICOM: What do eating problems have to do with perfectionism?
Perfectionism can significantly influence our eating behavior. Just about everyone has at least one area where they want to be really good. That could be their job or sports, for example. We often place a lot of value on our own appearance. We have an ideal image—usually oriented toward societal norms—and we try hard to live up to it. In everyday life, we then experience a conflict between our own personal (slim) beauty ideal and the constant availability of (usually) high-calorie food that seemingly satisfies emotional needs. Not only in our careers but also in our daily and private lives, many of us suffer increasingly from stress. And under stress, we fall back heavily on learned eating behavior. We try to compensate for our emotional needs for rest, relaxation, or recognition with food.
We try to compensate for our emotional needs for rest, relaxation, or recognition with food.
Perfectionism, in turn, creates stress because we link our self-esteem to performance. We are afraid that we will not be accepted by our environment, especially if we do not deliver perfect performance. We quickly become trapped in a spiral of worry about criticism, judgment, and failure. Our expectations of ourselves keep rising, and we overwhelm ourselves. We barely see what we have done "well" anymore, but only see our mistakes. Instead of improving through perfectionism, or simply accepting ourselves, we increasingly lose sight of who we are. And that is also reflected in our eating behavior. We lose control. The loss of control and the loss of contact "with oneself" are often the triggers for binge eating.
MEDICOM: How do we eat healthily?
Dr. Vergin: Healthy nutrition is fundamentally simple, but not always easy. We know that pizza has more calories than salad or a vegetable stir-fry. But we often fail at "long-term" implementation. There is therefore a clear discrepancy between the desire to eat healthily and actual eating behavior. We eat too much, we eat constantly, we eat too much fat and/or too much sugar. The connection between one’s own personality, personal needs, and one’s own emotional eating behavior is the key to better nutrition. Only when we understand why we eat the way we eat and why we are the way we are do we also understand the emotions behind our eating behavior. In doing so, we eat intuitively and without binge eating. Eating healthily does not mean a diet, no renunciation, and no "toughing it out" during the next diet attempt; it means understanding and valuing oneself and one’s own needs.
MEDICOM: Is that why you developed the "Emotional Eating" journal?
Dr. Vergin: Exactly. At the beginning of a healthier attitude is the examination of one's own eating behavior. The current diet and the corresponding eating behavior are documented. The book helps to get to the initial core problems of one's own eating habits. A journal creates space for very personal thoughts or experiences that are not immediately made public on Facebook, Snapchat, or Instagram. A journal is often a dialogue you have with yourself. In the process, we get to know ourselves better: our strengths and our needs. And how we can better recognize, communicate, and satisfy them. This strengthens our personality and thus our self-confidence. Writing down one's thoughts also leads to less brooding. That helps with stress relief, and we can direct our energy toward positive things.
About the author:
Dr. Kathrin Vergin is a chemist by training, a nutrition expert, and a psychotherapist (HPG). She works as a food coach at her self-founded 360° Health Lab, a health center in Hamburg. Her current publication is titled "Das Emotional Eating Tagebuch" and was published by Rowohlt.
Are you interested in another interview on the topic of "healthy nutrition"? Listen to the podcast with Dr. Anne Fleck: How to succeed with healthy nutrition according to Anne Fleck.
Do you want to learn more about how you can eat to satiety in a healthy way? You can find more information here.
Plant-based weight loss products can be found here.
