April is Stress Awareness Month, so let’s discuss emotional eating and comfort foods for a moment.

It’s no surprise the majority of us have been undergoing an extraordinary amount of stress the past few years, more so than usual, resulting in burnout and other mental and physical conditions. Stress eating or emotional eating helps us escape the overwhelm, boredom, or anxiety we may be feeling but can also have us feeling shameful or guilty when making certain food choices.

There’s a reason why they’re called comfort foods: some of these meals remind us of warm and inviting times in our lives or allow us to soothe our emotional distress. And while we’re all about food freedom here at DishWithDina you want a cookie? have a cookie we also know that you may not always make the best choices for yourself when under stress, an especially important factor if you’re trying to manage or prevent a chronic condition.

Practicing mindful eating, keeping healthy food options on hand, and watching portion sizes can help us manage our food intake, but if your reaction to a stressful situation is to reach for indulgent snacks, you might need to dive a little deeper to understand what’s really going on.

Please join us for this month’s *FREE* Wellness Webinar on Wed, Apr 27 @ 1-2pm ET where we’ll share more info about stress factors and risks, and provide you with mindful strategies on how to cope with stressful situations to help you embrace and maintain a healthy relationship with food. Click HERE to register.

Sources:

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30859465/
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33453336/
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33476651/
• https://health.clevelandclinic.org/emotional-eating/amp/
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4214609/