You may have already heard about emotional hunger, but if it's a new expression for you, now you know that there are two types of hunger: physiological hunger and emotional hunger! The first arises when the body has energy and nutritional needs, needs that are essential for its proper functioning; the second is totally independent of these needs and is expressed by the desire to eat depending on the person's emotional state.
The easiest way to differentiate the two is to understand how they arise: physical hunger appears gradually while emotional hunger appears suddenly, creating a need to eat something immediately!
Has it ever happened to you that you eat too much at mealtimes? Or are you completely satisfied but don't leave dessert aside? These are behaviors that we see regularly, but when they become systematic, they can be a sign of emotional hunger.
Um important detail and relating to emotional hunger is that normally we can only satisfy it with caloric foods, rich in sugar and fat and is usually associated with painful emotions, which lead us to seek comfort in food!
We leave you some TIPS To prevent emotional hunger:
- Maintain a regular sleep routine. For adults, the ideal would be to sleep between 6 and 8 hours per night.
- When you feel hungry, try to identify whether it is physiological hunger or whether it is emotional – Think about your last meal. How long ago was it?
- Start playing sport. It is healthy, as it promotes physical and emotional well-being! If you need an extra incentive, you can visit our store. We have lots of sets that will help you perform better and maintain style 🙂
- When you're at home, try to arrange distraction techniques: Clean the house, read a book or listen to music.
- Make one food plan for your week. If you spend a lot of time away from home, it's a good idea to have some healthy and nutritious snacks with you to eat throughout the day. Have you already visited our nutrition store? We have several options that can help you maintain a balanced eating plan. Explore here!
- One thing you can't miss: water. Stay hydrated throughout the day! The feeling of hunger can be confused with thirst, so make sure you stay hydrated!
- Evita have at home foods rich in simple carbohydrates and with a lot of fat, salt or sugar, such as chocolates or sweet/salty snacks!
It is important to remember two things:
- Not all situations of emotional hunger are a defeat and it happens to everyone at one time or another.
- In cases of greater difficulty, you should seek the help of a nutritionist, who can help you overcome this situation through an appropriate eating plan and strategies to control emotional hunger.
Source: Nutrialma
