STRESS MORE, EAT MORE
Part 7 of 10
By Deborah Kesten and Larry Scherwitz
Have you ever felt hungry, then lost your appetite because you were upset? Or did your food sit like a lump because you’d eaten while agitated? Perhaps you’ve eaten to stuff down unpleasant feelings. The idea that your psychological state can influence digestion is now so familiar that it’s easy to lose sight of how amazing it is that your state-of-mind can influence digestion, and in turn, your well-being.
We’re mentioning this, because our research has revealed this unexpected finding: the atmosphere in which you eat influences overeating, and in turn, weight gain. In other words, whether you’re enveloped in car fumes because you’re eating while driving; harsh, super-bright, fluorescent lighting; or abrasive noise from, perhaps, loud rock music, or an argument you’re having—dining frequently in an unpleasant atmosphere contributes to a negative relationship with food and increased odds of growing girth. We call this overeating style, “Unpleasant Atmosphere.”
Psychological and Aesthetic Considerations
Both the psychological and the aesthetic atmospheres in which you dine hold the power to influence your weight and well-being. What do we mean by psychological and aesthetic atmospheres? Have you ever eaten in an especially pleasant place, surrounded by supportive people, convivial conversation, and beautiful accoutrements? Perhaps friends took you to a welcoming restaurant for your birthday; because they’d organized the meal to celebrate you, the evening crackled with joy, conversation, and laughter.
Psychological surroundings. The external mood, tone, and ambiance that surrounds you while you eat determines the psychological atmosphere. In the example of the birthday party, the atmosphere is celebratory and a source of pleasure. The milieu has an agreeable effect on you psychologically as you and your friends chat over a delicious meal. In response, your heart is open and your soul is singing.
But the psychological atmosphere can also be negative, stress-filled, and unpleasant. Have you ever eaten while being scolded or criticized? Or while driving during rush hour? Or while watching a horror movie or murder mystery on TV? If so, you’ve had the experience of eating in an unpleasant psychological atmosphere. The surroundings were so hectic or unpleasant that they affected your mind or mental processes in some way—either consciously (when you’re being scolded while eating, for example) or unconsciously (you might not be aware of the impact a horror movie is having on your psyche or digestive process).
Aesthetic surroundings. The other key component of the “unpleasant atmosphere” eating style is the aesthetics that surround you when you eat. Is the place in which you’re dining welcoming in appearance? If you’re sitting on a hard plastic bench, eating off damp paper plates on a garishly colored plastic tabletop, your dining aesthetics are less than optimal. Or perhaps you’re eating on the run in a noisy fast-food restaurant with rock music blaring and fluorescent lighting glaring overhead. These are examples of aesthetically unpleasant surroundings. (Of course, it’s all in the eye of the beholder! The same aesthetics may be pleasing to some.)
As a contrast, envision a place with an atmosphere that’s agreeable to you. At a friend’s, you’re greeted by the aromas of freshly prepared food coming from the kitchen. Perhaps you take a break from work at your favorite local café to enjoy the brew that the barista makes for you personally. Or soft candlelight makes you aware of a wooden dining table’s lovely patina, peeking out from pleasing placemats.
Some scientists have explored the role that atmosphere and emotions can play in the digestion process. What they found is quite amazing.
Molecules of Mealtime Emotions: A Two-Way Freeway
Why have we been created with an amazingly strong connection between the brain and the digestive system—a relationship so powerful that the stomach and intestines are abundant in nerve cells, even more so than the spinal cord? Why has our mind-body been designed to pay such close attention to our environment and our emotions, with the ability to respond accordingly? Researcher Candace B. Pert explored the physical, emotional, and spiritual reasons for feelings.
Pert’s pioneering work presents a scientific picture about how environment may influence digestion and increase the drive to overeat: in other words: stress more, eat more. The story starts with substances called peptides, which reside not only in the brain but throughout your entire body. And it is neuropeptides specifically that act as the biological foundation of the awareness we bring to meals— indeed, to all aspects of our lives.
What’s unique about neuropeptides is that they are released into the bloodstream by nerve cells. The link to nerve cells is fascinating, because the hormones and other chemicals made by our mind-body create a two-way freeway that serves as a dynamic information network between the brain and the digestive system. Neuropeptides influence your experience of your world; and vice versa, your consciousness—or mind, or emotions—affects your biology. Put another way, your body is strongly influenced by your emotions. Because of this, “the environment in which you eat has a lot to do with your emotional experience at mealtime,” writes Pert. Eat in an unappetizing atmosphere, and “it’s a kind of disintegration, a mind-body split that will lead to weight gain [italics ours] and disease conditions caused . . . by incomplete digestion.”1
Eating More at the Movies
But there’s another reason you’re likely to eat more and gain weight when you consume food in an unpleasant psychological atmosphere: it also influences the quality (worse) and quantity (more) of food you eat. Researchers discovered this when they asked thirty subjects to watch Love Story, a sad movie that leads people to cry easily and often. As the study subjects watched the film, they ate 28 percent more buttered, salty popcorn (124.97 grams versus 97.97 grams) than they did while watching Sweet Home Alabama, a breezy comedy.2
The same researchers found similar results with college students asked to read about children who died in a fire. As they read the heartbreaking news, they ate four times more M&M’s than raisins from nearby bowls of snacks. In contrast, when the same students read about a delightful chance reunion among four old friends, they didn’t turn to unhealthful food, but rather to healthful snacks. The message: if you want to eat less and weigh less, refrain from using the dinner table as a place to argue or scold or to think about unpleasant things.
Optimal Eating Atmosphere
Most of us know that eating in congenial surroundings is, at the very least, enjoyable. This is good news, since you can access or create delightful surroundings anytime. Envision a fall picnic, for instance, surrounded by the colors of the season in the leaves and in the deep orange of pumpkin soup. Or think of the soothing comfort of a homemade stew eaten in winter as candlelight flickers. Here are some suggestions for creating an affable dining milieu, as often as possible.
Walk away. A friend of ours told us that not too long after she read our research paper on the overeating styles6, she was feeling hypo-glycemic (weak from low blood sugar) and hungry in the middle of the day while “choring.” She made the spontaneous decision to buy a sweet from a gourmet cookie shop to quickly appease her hunger. But she was dissuaded from staying by the acid rock music that blasted from speakers and the uninterested clerks who talked among themselves instead of taking her order. She found a friendlier place down the block for a midday munch. When you eat out—whether it’s a full meal or a munchie—choose an amiable place whenever possible.
Cherish china. When Oprah did a show on “anti-aging breakthroughs,” a weight-loss lifestyle was one of the topics. To highlight the elements of her successful weight loss, an audience member shared her personal success story. Along with moving more and choosing fresh food, the aesthetic atmosphere she created was part of her twenty-two-pound weight loss. “I put my portion [of food] on beautiful plates, with great style, lovely linens, crystal, [and] china, and enjoyed every morsel,” she said. “No more standing in the kitchen eating out of a little container.”3 Whenever possible, eat on quality plates with your best utensils, and sit down at a dining table to enjoy your meal even more.
Release emotions. Thanks to Candace Pert’s research on emotions and digestion, it’s safe to say that the psychological atmosphere in which you eat influences the way you metabolize food and, in turn, your weight and well-being. That’s why you’ll find it helpful to release toxic molecules of emotion when you eat. If you find yourself ruminating about something unpleasant, put your emotions on hold and press the pause button as you eat; instead, think about something agreeable. You can always return to the problem later. Or, if the people with whom you’re dining are more negative than positive, try to redirect the conversation by asking them to share something that’s working well or is enjoyable in their lives.
Stress More, Eat More
The psychological and aesthetic environments connected to food and eating may be the most over-looked aspect of weight gain, but as we’ve seen throughout this post, it can be a powerful determinant of your weight. Commit to taking charge by “designing” the most pleasant ambiance possible each time you eat. Here, the key concept to get you started:
Step #7: Dine in psychologically and aesthetically pleasing surroundings.
When our research showed unappetizing atmosphere to be linked with overeating, what astonished us was that, as with all the overeating styles, it was statistically significant: it’s not due to chance that when you eat in an unappetizing atmosphere, you’re at increased risk for weight gain. The bottom line: dining in psychologically and aesthetically pleasing surroundings matters to your waistline.
Beyond the 7 Overeating Styles
This post, “Stress More, Eat More,” is the seventh of the seven overeating styles we’ve been telling you about in our 10-step weight loss series. Our research on the seven overeating styles4 highlights the mistake many make in thinking about eating and weight loss, which is the belief that a simple formula—eat less, move more—will cure the problem. Such a conviction underestimates the complexity of people’s food choices and eating behaviors. We overeat and are overweight for many reasons—from food fretting, task snacking, and emotional eating to fast foodism, solo dining, sensory disregard, and unpleasant atmosphere. But armed with the step-by-step strategies we’ve outlined in the first 7 steps of our BE A SUCCESSFUL LOSER series, you can overcome your own overeating style(s). The next posts in our 10-Step Weight-Loss Series give you three more scientifically sound strategies to lose weight and keep it off. (See “Next Post,” below, for more about this.)
References:
- Candace B. Pert, Molecules of Emotion: Why You Feel the Way You Feel (New York: Scribner, 1997), 297–98.
- N. Garg, B. Wansink, and J. Jeffrey, “The Influence of Incidental Affect on Consumers’ Food Intake,”Journal of Marketing 71, no. 1 (2007), 194.
- Christine Aaron in conversation with author Mireille Guiliano and Oprah Winfrey, “Anti-Aging Breakthroughs,” transcript, The Oprah Winfrey Show, May 17, 2005 (Livingston, NJ: Burrelle’s Information Services), 21.
- L. Scherwitz and D. Kesten, “Seven Eating Styles Linked to Overeating, Overweight, and Obesity,” Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing 1, no. 5 (2005): 342–59.
Related:
Visit our free Whole Person Nutrition Program for more about what and how to eat to be a successful loser. It’s filled with practical guidelines, menu plans, recipes, and more.
Read:
“Step #1: Lose Weight Without Dieting”
“Step #2: Overcoming Emotional Eating”
“Step #3: Eat Fresh, Weigh Less”
“Step #4: The Weight Loss Power of Mindfulness”
“Step #5: Nourish Your Senses, Lose Weight”
“Step #6: Eat with Others, Eat Less”
“Dine by Design” in Make Weight Loss Last
“Enjoy Food with Others” in Make Weight Loss Last
“Focus on Food” in Make Weight Loss Last
“Get Fresh” in Make Weight Loss Last
“Access Your Appetite” in Make Weight Loss Last
“Jettison Judgment” in Make Weight Loss Last
“The Healing Secret of Socializing” in The Healing Secrets of Food
“The Healing Secret of Mindfulness” in The Healing Secrets of Food
Next post:
Think outside the diet to make weight loss last with Step #8 of our BE A SUCCESSFUL LOSER series, “Chemical Cuisine: A New Saboteur of Weight,” posted on our NewView blog.
You’ll get plenty of clarity about what’s true and useful—or not—by keeping up with nutritionist Deborah Kesten, MPH, and research scientist Larry Scherwitz, PhD, the writers of this post, by liking them on Facebook, following them on Twitter, or sending us an email.
What are your thoughts about “Enjoy Food with Others, Eat Less?” Tell us about them in the Comments section below.
