Emotional Eating
By Courtney Pool
In the journey to heal emotional eating, does it matter what kind of food we’re eating? My personal experience of healing emotional eating has said yes, it surely does. While emotional eating is a symptom of imbalances that are not food-related, I have found that eating a healthier diet is a profound way to support the healing of emotional eating.
Fueling our bodies with processed food and animal products only makes for harder work in healing emotional eating. Our bodies as well as our brains get physically addicted to processed sugar, flour, salt and grains, cooked, low quality oils, chemical food additives and colorings, and even naturally occurring substances such as casein in dairy products. We then have to deal with not only our emotional addiction to food, but also our physical addiction. With the confusion about how much of the issue can be attributed to physical addiction and how much is otherwise, the depth of the emotional eating imbalance, as well as the causes, and therefore the plan of action for healing, are difficult to discern. You are not hungry, but you really want to eat chocolate cake, or chips, or whatever your favorite thing is. How much of that is because you are physically addicted to the food, and how much of it is because there are other issues?
Still, the issue is emotional eating, and often our foods of choice in that pattern may be exactly these junky, processed foods. As we slowly transition to a healthier diet and our bodies detoxify, a few things happen. First, we begin to crave less junk food and more healthy food. This is a natural process for anyone who is making a consistent change for health. We find more healthful recipes that we really love, and we begin to prefer them as much or more than what we used to eat.
We also begin to create a new frame of reference for what health and vitality is. We know experientially what it is like to live with minimal or no sickness, high energy levels, bounding creativity, sharp intellect and focus, great sleep, a general feeling of wellness, and many other wonderful benefits, all thanks to living and eating naturally. Subsequently, we begin to associate more pain with the numbing and deadening brought on when we overeat or binge on addictive foods, and over time, we are less willing to compromise how fantastic we feel for the temporary fullness and the temporary satisfaction of our taste buds.
When we get to a place where the foods we reach for emotionally are rarely or never processed ones, then we can clearly arrive at the truth of our emotional attachment to food. Perhaps now you still eat emotionally, but you reach for raw, organic nuts or dates, or maybe raw vegan desserts. Emotionally, enough of most any food will satisfy what we’re using it for, so even a great deal of blueberries or a pile of seaweed can do the trick. However, we can often conclude that we are not likely reaching for a pile of blueberries or even a bag of nuts because we are physically addicted. Now that the physical addiction is gone, we can face the issue appropriately, and begin to explore why we eat when we are not hungry.
My belief is that animal products made from suffering, abused animals carry an energy of suffering, abuse, and death. So, when we are focusing on healing emotional eating, which can be such a sensitive and delicate process, how supportive is it to continually bring into our being energy which suppresses and directly contradicts the positive, uplifting energy required to heal an emotional attachment to food? Organic plant foods, particularly if they are grown locally or at home and you eat them fresh, are incredibly supportive of healing, I believe, on more levels than just the physical.
Emotionally eating almond butter doesn’t do as good a job at its role (to numb, fill, calm, etc.) as emotionally eating conventional dairy ice cream does, even if we eat the same amount. Since it doesn’t mess with our physiology as much, those root reasons for emotional eating don’t go away as much, which can be cause for panic and more eating… or can be an opportunity. We now have the opportunity to sit with that space and observe and investigate what is really going on. The self-inquiry can begin to happen, whereas had we knocked ourselves completely out with Moose Tracks, no growth or discovery may have been made. In other words, healthy foods are less sufficient for the purpose of emotional eating, thereby creating a space to begin to heal!
Ultimately, I believe we can heal emotional eating regardless of what we are eating, because again, the root of emotional eating is never food-related; if those issues are addressed, the emotional eating is addressed, as well.
The question is: can we make that journey easier on ourselves? Absolutely.
Courtney Pool has been studying raw food nutrition and natural health for 5 years, including with Dr. Gabriel Cousens, M.D. at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, for over 3 years. Courtney blogs, writes, and speaks on nutrition, holistic living, eating disorders and related issues, and personal and spiritual growth and is a Juice Feasting coach, having fasted herself for over 130 days.
25 Comments
Great article–thanks so much for this insight. I’ve struggled with this for many years, and while eating a raw and natural diet has done wonders for me, I’m sorry to say that yes, you really CAN use almond butter (or perhaps a raw treat or a fruit-based one) to soothe an emotional craving just as well as ice cream. Digging deep to find the triggers on the emotional side is key, of course, and that’s what takes the most time and effort! In the meantime, it’s certainly better to be bingeing on almond butter (or whatever healthy food) than sugar and flour-laden junk foods.
I really enjoyed that! I hope you write a follow up about what to do in that space when you need to confront emotions and ourselves :)
I’ve just read Healing the Addictive Mind by Lee Jampolsky, and he says addiction is an expression that we need more love!! Learning to love ourselves is the ultimate goal in my mind x
Thanks Courtney! I too have struggled with this, especially going on and off of Prednisone for Crohn’s. The emotions on steroids are off the charts and going off it’s hard to get back to normalcy. I take it day by day! High raw/vegan diet does help the way I look at what I put into my temple. Thank you for sharing! XO!
Your comment about the negative energy the animals carry in there cells and then transmit to us as we eat animal foods really hit home for me. I am a heart transplant nurse coordinator and one thing I KNOW FOR SURE…our energies stay in our body. So many transplant recipients re-live the emotions, cravings , experiences of their donors. We see it al the time. Thank you. Great article!
Thanks, Courtney.
Kristin–really?! That’s so interesting.
Dear Courtney,
I love this article. I am so in alignment with everything you said. I have been on this journey of emotional eating as well and know that the “cleaner” I eat, the addictions seem to just fade away. And…it does take time for the body to let go of the addictions to carbs and sugars, so the more gentle, kind we are to ourselves through this journey of letting go, the more triumphant we will feel in our success of pure joy and freedom!
Love and Blessings,
Elaina Love
dear courtney-
great post thank you. emotional eating is a call to investigate and handle what is really beneath it as you suggested. once the space is cleared (as the behavior transforms) there is an opportunity to get real and free yourself from past pain. this is a fierce fearless and fabulous group who seek and conquer! so thank you again…great food for thought!
love love love
your crazy sexy life coach,
terri
Thanks Courtney for you amazing inspiring words and thoughtfulness. We have struggled with emotional eating, but ever since raw it is a lot easier to maintain.
This resonates with me so much! I think it’s totally true.
Hey Court! Love this article.. I can say that using food to fill a gap is much less attractive when you are eating raw/vegan foods! For me, it’s more about, ok, do I need to fuel up or chill out? Choosing my foods is more logical and way less emotional now.
xoxo love
deb
I have myself recovered of bulimia wiht the help of veganism. Skinny bitch saved my life!
Thank you, Courtney, for your comments about the energy of suffering, abused animals that is then carried into us. I’ve believed this for a long time, and appreciate seeing other people sharing that viewpoint.
Very good article. Teach your children well.
Excellent article Courtney! I can truly relate to a lot of what you said. I feel like a lot of my “eating” issues have definitely been related to emotional eating. I do have to say that since I went raw I down have the same food addictions. I’m able to snack on raw foods. However, I do have to watch the raw “junk foods” when I’m feeding my emotions…love this article! =)
Thank you.. This was beautifully written.. I will share this on my facebook wall… Blessings, Marina :)
Thank you beautiful ~ loving your words x
Very Inspiring! Thank You Courtney! Love you and your journey!!
A lot of what you have written here makes so much sense to me. After going through “weight restoration” that lead to crazy weight gain, I had to question why I was eating when I wasn’t even hungry. I find that eating a clean, organic vegan diet helps. It makes me feel happier and healthier. I think its so interesting that this could be a way of dealing with my feelings instead of numbing them out by putting unhealthy things in my body.
I was an emotional over eater since I can remember. Food (in any kind) was my secret best friend no matter what. What I had to learn is that I have to be my own best friend no matter what in order to not turn to food for comfort. When we love and respect ourselves in our journey the need for excess food simply goes away. If we take care of ourselves in this way and show ourselves compassion as we learn and heal we will not need to show ourselves love with the food. Now, I have the pleasure of working with others everyday on this amazing and life changing process of learning to love ourselves and take care of ourselves the way we were meant to.
Everyone – thank you for your insightful, vulnerable, and supportive comments! I am so glad you can relate, that you enjoyed the article, and that you’ve shared your experiences and stories and insights with me!
Tara – I most definitely agree, we all emotionally eat to some extent. Food, when eaten due to physical hunger, usually does also give us some emotional satisfaction. The issue is just when we eat to avoid emotions and when we are not hungry.
Azura – that is a great suggestion! I will do some posts on that at my personal blog, http://www.CourtneyPool.com. I agree: Loving, respecting and cherishing ourselves is what it all comes down to.
xoxo Courtney
Hey, wait a minute. We are human, we are still like animals, there is a survival mechanism to us, we are built to survive. Don’t you think maybe some of what you call emotional eating is just our body doing what it needs to to survive? I am thinking especially of women who are pregnant, they seem to need more food, even sometimes cooked food or animal products, to ensure that their baby will be born and thrive. And what about people in colder climates, isn’t it normal to have the desire to fatten up in order to survive the winter or any other time when there is a possiblity of not enough food? I am just saying that maybe some of this is normal. I’m sure though our normal drives have been taken advantage of by the whole “food industry” but really, we’re still animals, and we have the insticnt to thrive, so why judge it, or label it, when maybe some things are a mystery?
Hi Steven,
I totally agree with you. The situations you describe are ones where bodies require extra food. I am referencing the experience of reaching for food when our bodies and life circumstances are NOT in requirement of food, but we are using it emotionally anyways.
Note: I agree with the need for more food; not the requirement of animal products.
@Steven, there are so many mysteries when it comes to emotional and over-eating. Are people genetically predisposed to over-eat? Why do some people have huge cravings and others don’t? Courtney makes an excellent point that we need to sit and think about what is really going on within us rather than numb our tension and anxieties with food.
Thank you, Courtney, for your post. Making the change to an raw/vegan/organic diet has changed the way I feel about food and myself — a change for the better! I still find that I’m an emotional eater, however. Aren’t we all on some level? I don’t know if we can ever completely separate eating for physical nourishment and eating for emotional nourishment.
The difference now, of course, is what I use to self-soothe. I’m glad it’s a pile of blueberries or some nut cheese instead of chocolate chip cookies, as it once was.
Tip to everyone: Never, ever buy Amy’s organic chocolate cake from the frozen section. It’s vegan, but not raw, and full of flour and sugar and totally addictive. :) I feel pretty out of control when my husband brings it home.
But yes, Courtney, you are right, we can make vast improvements to emotional eating.
March 25, 2010