Your thoughts and emotions may seem unrelated to your physical need for food, but your emotional health and physical health go hand-in-hand. Not only do sad thoughts affect your appetite, but all thoughts can become appetite-influential through habitual behaviors. Also, merely thinking hard can cause your appetite to increase. Thinking about eating healthfully can influence your appetite, as well.
Thinking Hard
University Laval research published in "Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine" measured appetite variances after participants relaxed versus after they performed hard intellectual work. The study found that thinking hard burns about three calories more per 45-minute session than resting, but that the group who worked intellectually ate 200 to 250 more calories after their sessions than they did after resting. Researchers concluded that heavy thought feels like hard work, and may be partially to blame for the rising problem with obesity.
Sadness
The feeling of sadness, which is sometimes related to depression, may increase or decrease your appetite, depending on your reaction to it. Sadness may cause you to turn to food for comfort. When you experience sadness, it may also cause an inability to enjoy things, possibly resulting in decreased appetite.
Anxiousness
Anxious thoughts put your body into a fidgety mode, a response that usually results in a lack of appetite; however, fidgeting sometimes causes the appetite to increase. Anxiety may also cause an increase in stomach acid production, inspiring a full feeling in your stomach and throat which makes eating unappealing, suggests Vijai P. Sharma, Ph.D. Additionally, some people with anxiety issues fear being judged by people, which can lead to decreased appetite. Sharma recommends using breathing techniques and gentle music to calm anxiety.
Negative Thoughts
Negative self-talk may have a larger impact on your weight loss efforts than you give credit. According to "Psychology Today," putting pressure on yourself to lose weight or blaming yourself for gaining weight are the wrong ways to approach reaching good health. Clinical psychologists Nando Pelusi and Mitchell Robin say that a desperate all-or-nothing attitude only sets you up for failure. Instead, plot a course for steady weight loss while recognizing minor achievements along the way.
Positive Thinking
Dr. Mehmet Oz, MD, and Dr. Michael Roizen, MD, authors of "You: on a Diet," recommend visualizing healthy choices and following a better attitude to reduce your appetite and make healthier decisions. Visualizing your healthier self utilizes your right brain, which is responsible for creativity and intuition. According to Oz and Roizen, this process of visualization and positive thinking doubles your chances for meeting your short-term goals.
Other Thoughts
Appetites may increase or decrease based on habits surrounding your emotions. If you celebrate by eating a decadent meal every time something great happens, your appetite begins to habitually increase when you feel happy. If you eat to give yourself something to do, your appetite becomes linked to boredom. Gain control over the link your appetite has to your emotions by keeping a food diary, joining a support group or seeking counseling.
References
- Mind Pub; Anxiety Can Affect Appetite and Eating; Vijai P. Sharma, Ph.D; 2002
- Kids Health: Depression
- Mayo Clinic: Weight Loss
- "Psychology Today"; Weight Loss and Faulty Thinking; Dennis Brabham, et al.; January 2004
- Science Daily; Thinking People Eat Too Much; September 2008
- Real Age; Think Yourself Thin; Mehmet C. Oz, et al.; May 2011
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