Anxiety and Appetite: How Emotions Influence What You Eat

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders worldwide and they need medical attention. Anxiety is considered pathological when it is persistent and presents itself as excessive, incapacitating those suffering it and making them unable to live a satisfactory life. 

Sometimes, anxiety happens occasionally, with episodes of fear or worry when encountering a certain situation. This kind of anxiety can be managed by the affected person, especially if they know some prevention methods and are aware of the consequences. 

One of the derived problems of anxiety are insomnia, bad digestion, hypertension and appetite alterations. 

Appetite is the wish to eat and can be mediated by hormones (ghrelin and leptin, which are regulated depending on body fat accumulation), visual or olfactory stimuli, or can also be influenced by emotions. Emotions seriously impact what food que choose to eat. 

Anxiety may derive into a lack or excess of appetite.

ANXIETY AND LACK OF APPETITE 

Lack of appetite is linked to anxiety processes caused by mourning, depressive states, or extreme tiredness. All of them may happen after experiencing acute or maintained stress. 

Nutrition should be adequate and the lack of appetite should be under vigilance, as to not suffering any deficiency. 

• When glucose levels are very low, sudden cravings of sweet, sugars and not-so-nutritive and unhealthy foods appear.
• When not eating what we need, the calorie deficit will lead us to increase fatigue, which may, at the same time, make depressive clinical features worse.
• Suffering a vitamins and minerals deficit is possible.
• Poor hydration may cause headache and muscle aches. 

ANXIETY AND EXCESS OF APPETITE 

As mentioned before, feelings can modulate appetite. Food (especially tasty products or sugars), produce a pleasant feeling and makes us feel full. Our palate enjoys that party of flavours that produce certain foods like snacks, fast food, pastries, etc.

When we are feeling sad or angsty, we may feel the fake need of compensating those unpleasant feelings with other satisfactions. 

But be careful, since the feeling of lack of control when eating these foods can lead to compensatory behaviours and to making restrictions in our diets. But these restrictions are increasing anxiety, self-fault and appetite. 

In addition, anxiety and hunger cause us to chew less the food we eat and gobble it up quickly, which delays the apparition of satiety. 

Summing up, many anxiety disorders can lead to appetite disorders and vice versa, the kind of diet we follow can be the cause of anxiety appearing.

Some of the food and beverages that can cause anxiety and, thus, affect our appetite and our mood are, for example: stimulating and “energy” drinks, sweets, ultra-processed foods, alcohol, etc.

On the contrary, there are foods or dietary habits that help us decrease anxiety. 

TIPS TO REDUCE FOOD ANXIETY 

• Eating consciously (practicing mindful eating) implies paying full attention to the act of chewing, savouring and swallowing the food, and also implies making the effort of realising how we feel after ingesting the food. This helps combatting food anxiety.
• At diner, try including carbohydrates and tryptophan-rich foods.
• Tryptophan is a key amino acid in the production of serotonin (the hormone of serenity) and it a precursor of melatonin (the hormone that favours night rest). Some foods rich in tryptophan are pumpkin, sesame or sunflower seeds; some meats like turkey, chicken or lamb; soy, eggs, and some nuts.
• Combining these ingredients with carbohydrates like brown rice, pumpkin, sweet potato or potato, assist in an effective assimilation of tryptophan, since it needs insulin to pass through the blood-brain barrier and become serotonin.
• Eat less quantity, more times a day. Taking little quantities makes digestions easier. It also improves the assimilation of B vitamins, which are essential to the correct functioning of the central nervous system.
• Including magnesium-rich foods in your diet helps our body to better answer to situations of stress and anxiety. For instance, raw nuts, cocoa, legumes, wholegrains or clams or cockles are rich in magnesium.
• Eat more citrus fruits Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and essential to prevent cognitive deterioration, which is a consequence of stress and anxiety. Furthermore, vitamin C contributes to the formation of dopamine and to improve mood.

A good hydration avoids feeling hunger and the apparition of tiredness and apathy. A good way of staying hydrated is drinking infusions and teas, but remember to avoid those stimulating and choose plants like passionflower, linden or valerian.