This Very Strange Feeling May Explain Your Cravings – Psychologies.com

Do you get that kind of urgent “hunger” from time to time that makes you succumb to sweet or salty pleasures? We often say “we eat our emotions” and desires could be the sanctification of it.

“We eat our emotions because we are human and we will always eat our emotions,” says Jérémy Gorskie, a nutritionist known on social media as @menthe_banane. This is a completely normal phenomenon, because food brings us pleasure. When we are not well, we try to face these unpleasant emotions. » To better understand these emotional hungers, scientists conducted a study published on JAMA Open Networkwhich analyzes the connection between feelings of loneliness and the desire for food.

Changed eating behavior of single people

To conduct the study, researchers recruited 93 participants who were followed from September 2021 to February 2023. Several data were collected, such as body mass index, body composition, diet quality, social profiles and psychological factors, perceived isolation and diet. The participants’ brain activity was also analyzed using an MRI scan, during which they were shown pictures of various high- and low-calorie foods, as well as non-food items.

The researchers noted significant differences in brain activity between women who reported high levels of perceived social isolation or loneliness and those who reported lower levels. When the researchers presented pictures of sweet, high-calorie foods to women who felt lonelier, they showed significantly more activity in areas of the brain associated with cravings and reward. In other words, women who feel lonely may be more prone to food cravings.

Mental health associated with food cravings

“These findings suggest that increased loneliness may be associated with brain patterns that emphasize difficulties with motivation, control, and processing of internal states in response to food and increased changes in eating behavior,” the researchers write. The scientists also emphasized the vicious circle between mental health and diet.

“If you have bigger appetites, you eat more, and you may have more anxiety or depression, which can make you eat more,” says Xiaobei Zhang, one of the researchers. PsyPost. Feelings of loneliness, like anxiety or depression, can contribute to or be exacerbated by binge eating and food addiction.

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