Stress Eaters Consume Less during Good Times, Study Finds

Sharon Moore November 05, 2013

New findings from the University of Konstanz in Germany challenge the existing view that stress eaters should regulate their eating behaviour to prevent weight gain. According to the current study, whilst stress eaters tend to eat more when stressed, they also tend to eat less after experiencing a positive experience. Furthermore, ‘skippers’, or those who eat less during stressful events, tend to eat more after a positive experience.

For the study, researchers subjected the participants to either a positive or negative feedback experience. To induce this experience, each subject had a video chat with a stranger partner before meeting him or her in person. Then, they were told that their partner was looking forward to meet them or that their partner decided to cancel the in-person meeting because of the video interaction. A control group was told that their meet-up was cancelled but not for any of these reasons.

After the experiment, the subjects conducted a seemingly unrelated ice cream taste test, where they were given unlimited amounts of ice cream. The researchers found that stress eaters ate 120 calories more of ice cream after experiencing a negative experience (in this case, being rejected by a potential partner), compared with people who were identified as ‘skippers’.

However, people who self-identified as skippers ate 74 calories more of ice cream than stress eaters after receiving a positive feedback. They also ate more ice cream than the control group after positive feedback whilst the stress eaters ate less ice cream than the control group after positive feedback.

Healthier ways to reduce stress

Excessive eating during stressful situations may sound appealing but health wise, it isn’t a good habit. Fortunately, there are other coping strategies that can lower your stress levels without harming your health. These include the following:

Take a deep breath. Deep breathing is an effective technique to calm your mind, ease muscle tension and enlighten your perspective. Another thing, deep breathing boosts your brain’s production of endorphins, which in turn uplift your sense of well-being.

Cry and shout it out. When you’re feeling stressed out, frustrated or deeply hurt, it’s really okay to cry it out. Let your emotions break free, but only for a moment. And make sure you are not going to direct it to anyone!

Listen to your favourite tunes. Yes is true – music heals. Music therapy has the ability to improve your mood and lower your anxiety levels.

Visualise. Close your eyes and take your thoughts from the negative to something positive, like for instance, a beautiful place or your dream house. This can really make a difference in how you feel.

Play with your pooch. Show your pet some love. Take him out for a walk and spend quality time with him. Studies show spending more time with pets can reduce blood pressure.

Can you suggest other healthy stress-coping techniques?

Source of this article:

What Kind Of Stress Eater Are You?