Stress and Eating Behaviors Essay

following its addictive nature. Things however get worse for individuals under stress as the article reveals that it is very difficult for individuals to select or avoid the right foods under the influence of stress where they affirm that both animals and humans are more likely to choose food high in sugar and fat under such circumstances. In particular, hysterical and repeated stress dysregulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrena axis, a neuroendocrine system responsible for the release of the corticotropin-releasing factor from the hypothalamus PVN that arouses the ACTH from anterior pituitary ultimately influencing the eating behaviors and energy homoeostasis (Yau & Potenza, 2013). Not only does a stressed brain articulate the need to eat but also an weakened aptitude to inhibit eating thereby paving way for potential obesity formula. This further suggests that stress increases the chances of irregular and undesirable eating behaviors while at the same time increasing the possibility of consuming more thereby causing obesity.

The authors further highlighted a number of factors that influences the relationship between eating and stress including weight and diet related metabolism, emotional eating, restrained eating and sleep deprivation. In reference to weight and diet related metabolism, the authors reveals that metabolic changes in relation to weight changes the allostatic load by disclosing that people with high BMI are more likely to suffer from chronic stress and obesity. Emotional eating on the other influences the relationship between eating and stress in that hyerpalatable food provides comfort to unwanted distress. Conversely, restrained eating suggests that lacking control over one’s life happenings often triggers distracted and ineffective endeavors to control the patterns of eating by for instance withdrawal from the consuming particular foodstuffs

ultimately leading to binging. Lastly, sleep deprivation is directly linked with an increased risk of metabolic diseases including obesity with various studies revealing that there is a strong relationship between increased occurrences of obese and sleeping on short duration (Yau & Potenza, 2013). The authors concludes their work by affirming that food is very important and thus the need for individuals to struggle to balance the storage of energy as well as its expenditure.

References

1. Yau, Y. H. C., & Potenza, M. N. (2013). Stress and Eating Behaviors. Minerva Endocrinologica, 38(3), 255–267.