Anxiety With Food

Today I want to talk to you about anxiety with food, which is something that we have so normalized, that we do not see it as a problem, and even less be aware of everything that can suppose us.

Do you think you have anxiety?, Can anxiety affect your relationship with food?, How can we avoid it?

What is anxiety?

What I want to talk about is anxiety, which defines a state of mind that is characterized by great restlessness, intense excitement and extreme insecurity. This anxiety will always subtract us, both in health and in our progress when it comes to losing fat or gaining muscle mass. Having anxiety is a problem, but there is a bigger problem and that is not being aware that you have. So how can we know if we have this?

How do I know if I have anxiety?

Do not worry that today I bring you some profiles so that you know if you have developed it or not:

1. When a person presents anxiety, when expressing their feelings they usually overflow in tears.
2. They tend to obsess over wanting to have everything under control.
3. They usually appear to be quiet people, but inside their minds go a thousand per hour.
4. In addition to carrying their problems, they tend to carry problems that do not correspond to them.
5. They tend to have a life full of excesses (food, shopping, etc.).

If you have felt reflected in one of these points, changes must be made so that the problem does not get worse. If no solution is put in place, this could affect all facets of your lives, such as your relationship with food.

Anxiety with food

Ghrelin is a gastric hormone that regulates appetite and nutritional homeostasis. However, in addition to these functions, it also modulates insulin secretion and even memory.

This is also known as the hunger hormone, which is produced in the endocrine cells of the digestive tract and its secretion can be altered by different causes, among which is anxiety.

And when does our body produce ghrelin? This is increased during fasting, so it induces hunger. For this reason, if you suffer from anxiety with food, it will possibly be because you eat too little and space out meals too much. However we have an Ace up our sleeve and it is called leptin.

Leptin is a protein that is released mainly in fat tissue, which helps us control that anxiety that can make it difficult for us to achieve a good relationship with food.

What functions does it have? Inhibits that produce hormones and peptides that increase our appetite and desire to eat, increases our satiety and Increase our daily spending (looks good, right?)

And how can we increase it? Eat slowly, do not be too restrictive with food (the greater the flexibility the better adherence), make stops every X time if you are losing weight so that there are no metabolic adaptations and the process is not so hard, generate a good daily activation and reduce your day-to-day stress.

Normally we can learn little by little to manage anxiety, but if it overwhelms us and we do not know how to control it, we can always count on the help of a psychology professional and a nutrition professional, who will give us the tools so that we can achieve it.