Emotional Eating

About the author

Dr. Yvo Sijpkens is an internist at Haaglanden Medical Center in The Hague and medical advisor to Stichting Je Leefstijl Als Medicijn. He specializes in lifestyle medicine and its application in conditions such as diabetes and metabolic dysfunction.

Read more about Yvo Sijpkens →

In brief

• Emotional eating is eating to change a feeling, not to satisfy physical hunger
• The hunger scale (1-10) helps distinguish between physical and emotional hunger
• Aim to eat at hunger level 3-4 and stop around 6
• Conscious pausing, keeping a diary and stable nutrition are important tools
• Ask for help if you regularly lose control or get stuck

1. What is emotional eating?

Emotional eating is eating to change a feeling, not to satisfy physical hunger. You eat to comfort yourself, reward yourself or to suppress tension, sadness, anger or loneliness.

Everyone sometimes reaches for food with emotions. It becomes a problem when you:

• Regularly eat without hunger
• Continue eating until you feel uncomfortably full
• Feel guilty after eating

With metabolic conditions

Especially with diabetes and other metabolic conditions, emotional eating can hinder recovery.

Goal of this fact sheet: to help you better distinguish between physical hunger and emotional hunger, and give you concrete tools to deal with emotions without overeating.

2. Physical hunger and emotional hunger

Physical hunger

This is your body’s signal that it needs energy or nutrients.

Characteristics:

• The feeling builds gradually
• You notice signals like a rumbling stomach, slight dizziness, cold chills, low concentration or slight nausea
• Eating can be delayed a bit if necessary
• You are open to different kinds of food and not only to one specific product
• You can stop once you have eaten enough
• After eating you feel pleasantly satisfied

Emotional hunger (eating on feeling)

This is a reaction to a thought or feeling, not to a physical need.

Characteristics:

• It starts suddenly and feels urgent: “I need to eat something now”
• You crave a specific type of food, often something sweet or savory like chocolate, ice cream, chips, bread or alcohol
• You eat until you feel overfull or stuffed
• During eating there is often little attention to taste or satiety
• Afterwards you feel guilty, ashamed or disappointed in yourself
• The underlying feeling (stress, sadness, loneliness) is usually not resolved after eating

Important question

Ask yourself with an eating impulse: Am I eating what I feel, or am I eating what my body needs?

3. The hunger scale: learning to listen to your body

The hunger scale is a tool to better recognize physical hunger. You give your hunger a number from 1 to 10.

Level	Feeling
1-2	Empty, shaky, nauseous, very irritable, can no longer think clearly
3	Clearly hungry, but not yet feeling sick from hunger
4	Slightly hungry, you are open to start eating
5	Neutral, not hungry and not full
6	Pleasantly satisfied, you can easily stop eating
7	Full, you clearly feel the food in your stomach
8-9	Overfull, heavy feeling, sometimes nauseous
10	Stuffed, you feel sick, sometimes guilt

Target zone in daily life

• Start preferably eating around level 3 to 4
• Stop preferably eating around level 6 and at most 7

With emotional eating

With emotional eating you often see that the so-called hunger feeling starts at a number of 5 or higher (while the body does not need energy), and that eating continues to 8, 9 or 10 with a feeling of overfullness and guilt afterwards.

By briefly standing still several times a day at your hunger number (for example before and after the meal), you train yourself to better recognize body signals.

4. Emotional eating and metabolic health

With type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and overweight, blood sugar, insulin and hormones such as ghrelin (hunger hormone) and leptin (satiety hormone) play an important role.

Emotional eating can:

• Cause many eating moments and snacks in a day
• Lead to fast carbohydrate peaks through bread, cookies, candy, soft drinks and alcohol
• Cause blood sugar and insulin to spike repeatedly
• Make weight loss and metabolic recovery more difficult

A carb-conscious or low-carb eating pattern can help reduce blood sugar fluctuations, make hunger feelings more stable and give more peace in eating urge. Yet emotional eating can also persist with a healthy lifestyle. Then it is necessary to give attention to the feelings themselves.

5. The power of pausing: space between emotion and action

The most important step to break through emotional eating is awareness. Between the trigger (an emotion or thought) and your reaction (eating) there is a small pause moment. At that moment you can choose.

Ask yourself as soon as you feel the eating urge several questions:

1. What exactly do I feel now? (tension, fatigue, irritation, sadness, boredom)
2. How high is my hunger on the hunger scale from 1 to 10?
3. If I would not take food now, what do I actually need?

You don’t have to do anything perfectly. Every moment where you once a day insert a small pause is already a gain.

6. Five practical steps to find your pause

1. Press pause

Agree with yourself that with eating urge you first wait 5 to 10 minutes. In those minutes you do something else:

• Walk to another room
• Do a short breathing exercise
• Do a small tidying action
• Take a glass of water or tea

Then look again at your hunger scale. Has the urge become less, the same or stronger?

2. Mindful eating and breathing

Even if you decide to eat, you can do so consciously:

• Sit down
• Breathe calmly in and out a few times before you start
• Taste the flavor and texture of the food
• Put your utensils down in between
• Measure your hunger number a few times during the meal
• Stop around level 6

3. Keep a simple diary

Note during one week several moments per day:

• Time
• Hunger scale before and after eating
• What you ate or wanted to eat
• What situation or feeling preceded it (stress at work, being alone at home, watching TV)

This way you discover patterns in times, situations and typical comfort products.

4. Move in a gentle way

Movement can reduce tension without eating:

• A short walk outside
• Gentle stretching
• Yoga or tai chi
• A few minutes of strength exercises

The goal is not performance, but releasing tension and connecting with your body.

5. Ensure stable, nutritious base nutrition

If your base nutrition is not nutritious, it becomes harder to break through emotional eating. Pay attention to:

• Sufficient proteins with every meal
• Healthy fats
• Lots of vegetables
• Limitation of fast carbohydrates (sugar, white bread, cookies, soft drinks, fruit juice)

A carb-conscious or low-carb pattern can help experience fewer fluctuations in blood sugar and energy and less strong snacking urge.

7. A personal emergency plan for difficult moments

It can help to prepare a simple emergency plan beforehand for moments when the urge to eat is great.

Write down:

1. Your three most common emotions with eating urge (for example stress, loneliness, boredom)
2. What you usually want to eat in those situations
3. Two to three alternatives that you will try first from now on:
   • Call someone or send a message
   • Go outside for 10 minutes
   • Put on calm music
   • Take a warm bath
   • Do a short breathing exercise

Hang up visibly

Put this plan visibly (for example on the fridge or next to the computer) so that you are quickly reminded of it in the moment.

8. When is extra help advisable?

Emotional eating is human, but it is important to seek help if you recognize one or more of the following signals:

• You regularly lose control over eating or have binge eating episodes
• You often eat secretly or feel strongly ashamed of your eating behavior
• Weight and blood sugar fluctuate strongly despite serious lifestyle efforts
• You have somber feelings, sleep poorly or worry a lot
• You have had an eating disorder in the past

Seeking help

Discuss this with your general practitioner, treating medical specialist, dietitian or psychologist. Together you can see what support suits you.

9. Summary

• Emotional eating is eating to change a feeling, not to satisfy physical hunger
• The hunger scale from 1 to 10 helps you distinguish between physical and emotional hunger
• Try to eat at a hunger level of about 3 to 4 and stop around 6
• Conscious pausing, keeping a diary, gentle movement and a stable carb-conscious eating pattern are important tools
• Ask for help if you notice that you regularly lose control or get stuck

Veelgestelde vragen

What is emotional eating?

Emotional eating is eating to change a feeling, not to satisfy physical hunger. You eat to comfort yourself, reward yourself or to suppress tension, sadness, anger or loneliness.

What is the difference between physical and emotional hunger?

Physical hunger builds gradually, you are open to different kinds of food and can stop when satisfied. Emotional hunger starts suddenly, you crave specific food (often sweet or savory), eat until overfull and feel guilty afterwards.

What is the hunger scale?

The hunger scale is a tool where you give your hunger a number from 1 to 10. Aim to start eating around level 3-4 (slightly hungry) and stop around level 6 (pleasantly satisfied). With emotional eating, the urge often starts at 5 or higher.

How can I break through emotional eating?

The most important step is conscious pausing: wait 5-10 minutes with eating urge and ask yourself what you feel. Other tools are: keeping a food diary, gentle movement, mindful eating, and a stable carb-conscious eating pattern.

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This fact sheet was written by Dr. Yvo Sijpkens and shared in the Lifestyle Community of Je Leefstijl Als Medicijn. As a member, you get access to all fact sheets, a weekly digital cafe, and an active community of people working together on their health.

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