FOOD and mood are closely linked. The food we eat provides us with the energy and nutrients our brain needs to work well. This in turn affects our emotions and how we think. 

Our mental health can also influence our eating habits.  People always say about not being allowed chocolate which is totally false information.  If you want to have a chocolate bar and it makes youhappy then go for it, so long as you stay below 30g of free sugars per day.  A small Mars bar is 30g, a Boost is 25g and Dairy Milk at 25g.  

Emotional eating can become a double-edged sword depending on what way you view food.  For example, if you demonise chocolate, then  eating it could make you happy – so-called comfort eating; but then you get stressed a short time after.  So you shouldn’t demonise foods as this creates a negative relationship with what you eat.  It’s part of being human to eat in response to our feelings.  

All kinds of emotions can compel us to eat, from unwanted moods such as frustration, anxiety and worry to positive emotions like excitement, celebration or anticipation.  Even neutral feelings like boredom can cause us to eat. It’s normal to use food to cope with feelings some of the time and is a lifelong human coping strategy from when our baby tears were soothed by milk from out mothers.  

But if we have problems we should also try and come up with strategies to combat them rather than using food alone to cope.  When you start to understand where your emotions are coming from you can start to have a conversation with yourself when you overeat.  If overeating does happen try not to say unhelpful things to yourself like ‘I’m greedy’ or ‘I’m out of control.’  Try to find out the deeper reason of your emotional eating.  Once you have identified the real reason for your impulse to eat, try to express your emotions in different ways.  Things like talking to friends or family members, having a cry, writing out what you feel and exercise can all help.  

Lee McCusker (BA; MSc; MSc; MSc; ANutr; SENr) is a registered nutritionist from Belfast and can be found on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  Email: attentive nutrition@gmail.com