WHAT HAPPENS TO FOOD HABITS UNDER STRESS?

When you’re under pressure, or moving through a period of stress, how do your food habits change? 
Do you crave chocolate, coffee or sugar? Do you reach for bread and cake? Do you eat more, or do you lose your appetite altogether?
 
And what does any of it actually mean?
 
All foods and drinks hold an energetic quality. And depending on how we’re feeling, we’re naturally drawn towards certain qualities. 
 
When it’s cold, for example, we turn towards warming soups and stews – foods that draw energy inwards and downwards creating warmth and comfort.
 
But what happens when we’re stressed?
 
The body produces more adrenaline - this is the natural response. It is the body’s way of helping us in the moment. But adrenaline also uses up more glucose, so a common response is to crave sugar, or foods that give us a quick hit of energy.

And that’s absolutely okay, depending on the foods we choose.
Foods such as dates, bananas, potatoes and sweet potatoes can be deeply supportive during times of stress, offering nourishment without depletion.
 
But there’s another layer to this.
Because different foods don’t just fuel us, they move our energy in different ways.
 
Chocolate, coffee and sugar, for example, tend to move energy upwards and outwards. They can lift us out of the body – a subtle but clever form of escape! Cake or bread, on other hand, push the energy downwards, helping to suppress or numb what we’re feeling.
 
Some people don’t eat at all when under stress, they run purely on adrenaline, until the body forces them to stop. Others turn toward food, eating more, as a way to soothe or avoid what’s underneath.

What’s important to remember is that these are not failures, they are strategies.
Learned ways of being, mostly unconsciously, to avoid feeling what’s actually there.

But what if we did something different?
What if, instead of escaping the experience, we turned towards it?
What if we began to notice, with honesty and curiosity, how we respond with food in different moments.
 
The truth is we deeply fear this.
Not having coffee to get us through the day - oh my word!
Not having something sweet when we feel low.
It can feel almost unbearable.
 
But when we choose to be with what’s actually there, something shifts.
And even though there might be discomfort, we reconnect.
What wasn’t allowed to move, be seen or acknowledged, is given space.
 
Afterall, life wants to move. 
And the more we resist what’s truly there, the more stuck we become, in our bodies, in our emotions, and in our relationship with food.

A Practice for the Week Ahead
Take a little time this week to notice what foods you are drawn to, and why?
What do they give you? 
Is it comfort, energy, distraction or grounding, for example?

If you struggle with certain patterns, can you begin to sense what need is being met underneath?
And perhaps you can allow yourself to meet what's actually there?

Feel free to let me know what you find!

Wishing you much love, health & happiness, 
Rebecca