Eating Habits

Why eating habits?

More protein consumption is linked to increased mood, motivation, and concentration

Fruits and veggies supply more antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals

Certain foods directly impact mood, attention, and focus.

Food with low nutritional values can cause our blood sugar to spike then crash

As a result of intense stress, our eating behaviors and appeties can change

The Scientific Evidence

The British Psychological Society investigated the effects of stress, emotions, and human health. They collected daily responses from participants that measured personal stress, emotional responses, participation of physical activity, and eating habits in a week. The results were:

Increased stress associated with decrease of physical activity
Stress increased consumption of high fat and sugary foods
Stress decreased consumption of fruits and veggies

Although this study categorized the potential effects of eating healthy as “subtle”, this just goes to prove that you need to have healthy eating habits IN ADDITION TO physical activity.

This study found in the U.S. National Library of Medicine, explores the effects of prolonged academic stressors among medical students at all school years in Saudi Arabia. The results were collected using a questionnaire and were:

Stressed students will likely make poor eating habits
Students craved more convenient foods (usually with high fat and sugar contents)
In this study, freshman displayed the highest levels of stress compared to other classes

Foods that are convenient at the time are not always the healthiest choices for us to make. It is critical that we educate ourselves to know when we are making our food based on stressful triggers.

More info on eating habits

Harvard Health

Stress-related responses and emotions can be alleviated with comfort foods. Learn more science about stress and eating habits here.

Cleveland Clinic

The best meals for your brain are ones with complex carbs, lean meats, and colorful produce. Find more facts and recipes here.

Michigan Medicine

We can use food to cope with stress and emotions. Explore the signs and appropriate responses to counteract emotional eating here.

Powtoon Movie

Here are 5 tips to combat stress eating

Watch

References

AlJaber, M., Alwehaibi, A., Algaeed, H., Arafah, A., & Binsebayel, O. (2019, February). Effect of academic stressors on eating habits among medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Retrieved May 08, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6436320/
Emotional Eating. Emotional Eating | Michigan Medicine. (n.d.). https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/aa145852.
Publishing, H. H. (n.d.). Why stress causes people to overeat. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/why-stress-causes-people-to-overeat.
Schultchen, D., Reichenberger, J., Mittl, T., Weh, T., Smyth, J., Blechert, J., & Pollatos, O. (2019, January 22). Bidirectional relationship of stress and affect with physical activity and healthy eating. Retrieved May 07, 2021, from https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjhp.12355
Team, W. (2021, January 20). Does what you eat affect your mood? Retrieved May 07, 2021, from https://health.clevelandclinic.org/bad-mood-look-to-your-food/