Anorexia and crash diets cause serious problems, but there is another side to the situation that often no one thinks about. Overeating also seriously harms your body. Of course, this happens to everyone sometimes: when you're on vacation or celebrating a birthday, it's easy to overeat a little.
However, the situation changes if it becomes a habit - your body begins to suffer. The transformation may cause you to develop an eating disorder. You should talk about the problem when you overeat at least once a week for three months. This can have both physical and psychological consequences. So here's what happens to your body when you overeat.
Your dopamine levels rise
It's no secret: food makes you feel great. The point is not only that it is tasty and provides satiety, there is also an effect on the hormonal level. Your body produces dopamine, the feel-good hormone.
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Sugary, fatty foods provide you with the highest levels of dopamine, which is why people tend to overeat chips or cakes rather than healthy salads. The need for constant hormone surges is what causes the development of addiction.
Psychological techniques of not eating at night
The main task is to organize food and make it less fatty and plentiful.
Often evening overeating is caused by the desire to calm down, and not to be satiated. After all, as you know, food calms you down. But not only food can calm you down; for example, a walk in the fresh air works just as well.
Body treatments, such as a bath with aromatic oils, massage and shower, also help to calm down and reduce the need for food. They cause pleasant sensations, which means they reduce the need for “edible” pleasure.
Physical activity perfectly improves mood, invigorates and reduces appetite. But the loads should be moderate, for example, healthy walking, which will reduce the need for food and start the processes of fat breakdown.
The secret is simple - the earlier you go to bed, the less you eat. And adequate sleep makes it easier to control weight.
Inhale the aroma!
Aromatherapy or incense sticks will also save you from evening overeating. Use soothing scents - lavender, mint, chamomile.
A lot here depends on our thoughts and attitude towards food.
“I can do anything”
If a person knows that it is possible to eat at night, he will not overeat, but if he is sure that it is impossible, he will constantly break down.
The modern pace of life often simply does not leave time for food, so why not use it with good intentions. Go to the movies, theaters and exhibitions more often - this will cheer you up and save you from unnecessary calories.
Out of sight
One of the easiest ways to fix your diet and start life with a clean face is to throw out all the junk food that is hiding in the kitchen cabinets, refrigerator and freezer. It’s better to put vegetables and fruits in a visible place, they will make snacking less scary.
Imagine yourself slim and beautiful, attractive and charming. Would such a girl really eat enough at night?
Place stickers in a visible place that will indicate bad habits. Look at it always when you want to break your decision, let such a written reminder deter you.
Glue the photo to the refrigerator. The options can be very different: a very plump woman, the kind you never want to become, or, on the contrary, a girl with ideal parameters, the figure you strive for.
You develop physiological dependence
You might think that increased dopamine levels are a good thing, but in reality, moderation is key. If the level is always high, you need more and more food, you want to eat more and more often, otherwise you simply do not get the desired effect. If before it was enough for you to eat one cookie, then you will need five. Like any addiction, overeating is accompanied by a loss of strength when you feel weak, trembling, and increased sweating. A chemical reaction develops in your brain that causes you to behave in the same way as if you were addicted to drugs or alcohol. In the process, you begin to suffer emotionally, which does not allow you to deal with the problem and only aggravates it.
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You will experience immediate physical symptoms
We're all familiar with the most obvious symptom of overeating - that incredible heaviness in your stomach that makes you wonder if you'll ever be able to eat again. Your body has to work very hard to balance the effects of everything you eat. When you overload your body with excess calories, sugar, and fat, hormones fluctuate, energy levels fluctuate, and sugar accumulates in fat cells.
As a result, you also experience stress and may also experience inflammation. The body spends all its energy on digestion, causing you to feel tired and have little energy. This prevents you from gathering strength and changing your life.
You find yourself in a vicious cycle of dieting and overeating
Chronic bouts of overeating can create a vicious cycle along with dieting that will seriously worsen your health over time. This vicious circle forms much faster than you might expect. After three weeks of constant consumption of processed sugary or fatty foods, the feeling of hunger and satiety is disrupted, and the stability of dopamine levels is lost. This cycle is not only physical, but also psychological - a person begins to experience a feeling of shame and guilt, he wants to start a diet as soon as possible in order to improve his life and feel better, but then a breakdown occurs again. Self-loathing and feelings of helplessness only make the problem worse. It turns out to be almost impossible to escape from a dangerous circle without outside help.
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If you've eaten too much salty food
Excessive consumption of salty foods leads to swelling and severe headaches. The reason is a violation of the water-salt balance. If you suspect overeating salty foods, you should stop eating salt for the next few days and eat more natural foods, fruits and vegetables.
Even if there is swelling, you need to drink more water. This seems counterintuitive, but fluid is necessary to remove excess salt, which will also remove swelling. In addition to water, potassium is needed, it will reduce sodium levels in the body. You can get potassium from dried fruits, seaweed, bananas, lentils and nuts.
To release excess salt, the body has a sweating mechanism. If you have eaten too much salty food, then short physical activity will be beneficial. You can do anything, the main condition is to sweat. A visit to the steam room will also be useful; a sauna or bathhouse removes not only waste and toxins, but also excess salt.
Your stomach is stretching
Overeating not only affects your brain, it also has negative consequences for your body. It's no surprise that your stomach is the first to suffer from overeating. It is elastic and stretches to hold food in place during digestion. Once digested, it returns to its natural size. If you constantly overeat, your stomach can become permanently distended. The bigger it gets, the more food you'll need to fill it, and that's where the problem begins.
Fasting days - an alternative to strict diets
Fasting days can be an excellent alternative to long-term diets. The point is to regularly (usually 1-2 times a week) give up your usual food and its volumes, replacing it with some less high-calorie and healthier foods. It's not that difficult, but it makes sense if you don't take things to the point of fanaticism. Complete fasting only makes the situation worse. Complete fasting forces the body to mobilize all reserves and as soon as access to food opens, rest assured, the body will take revenge on you by bringing a couple of extra kilos in reserve in case of another hunger strike. And starving, preparing yourself for further overeating, is at least illogical.
Do not try to exhaust yourself with excessive physical activity on fasting days. Nutritionists even advise giving up physical activity, visiting a sauna or herbal barrel at this time, allowing the body to calmly go through a stressful situation. It is better to start these procedures when your diet becomes stable. Diuretics, laxatives and other herbal and medicinal products are not a panacea for overeating, so use them with caution. And most importantly: after fasting days, try to eat less, even just a little, this will already be a victory. Gradually, the body will get used to consuming less food, and you yourself will appreciate how well this has affected your well-being.
You lose the ability to recognize fullness
Overeating also changes the level of a hormone known as leptin. It helps your body recognize when you are full and tells you when to stop eating. If you overeat, food enters the stomach too quickly for the body to recognize it, which interferes with the proper production of leptin. Studies have shown that this seriously disrupts the body's condition in the future. Chronic overeating leads to problems with glucose and insulin levels, which can cause increased fatigue. It will be difficult to normalize your health.
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Causes of overeating
Overeating during dinner is a fairly common problem, the reasons for which lie not only in physiology, but also in psychology. The stress level of city dwellers is growing every year. At the same time, the rhythm of life does not always allow you to eat well throughout the day. In the evening, when people get home, they get used to overeating. At the same time, sweets, snacks, etc. serve as additions to a regular dinner. An equally important factor in evening overeating is the lack of communication and love. Evening gluttony has been proven to be more common among lonely people who feel unhappy.
Overeating is more common among lonely people who feel unhappy.
Many people overeat due to the habit of eating a lot. Even if you are already full, but are accustomed to large portions, you will subconsciously eat more than necessary. The problem is aggravated by the fact that there is no time to eat during the day, so the appetite is greater in the evening. If at the same time a normal full dinner is replaced with semi-finished products and other “quick” foods, the risk of overeating increases, since the brain does not have time to understand that food intake is starting. When food is cooked and heated, we smell odors, which serves as a starting point for the digestive processes.
People succumb to great temptation during feasts. Delicious food and drinks constantly stimulate the nerve centers with smells, which makes it difficult to stop in time. In addition, overeating is caused by the addition of a large amount of seasonings, spices, and in the case of industrial goods - chemical additives. The food seems more delicious, which makes it difficult to stop.
You're disrupting your circadian rhythms
The effects of overeating on your body are not just physical. There are also problems that you may not think about or associate them with food, for example, problems with sleep. Chronic overeating disrupts your internal clock. If you overeat, you want to eat even more. You may start waking up hungry in the middle of the night or feel particularly hungry in the morning. If it's not hunger that wakes you up, it may be discomfort from eating too much. Heartburn and thirst can make it difficult to fall asleep after you've eaten too much, preventing you from gaining strength the next day and causing the food situation to repeat itself.
Why do we overeat?
There are several reasons why we love to have a big dinner or abuse evening and night snacks:
- 1) Irregular work schedule. We should not forget that a woman in modern society often bears several social roles. She has to devote her life not only to her home and loved ones, but also to realize her career ambitions. Often, after a busy day of work, where everything was on the run, and routine chores around the house, you simply can’t get around to it. It is difficult to find time even for a snack, so meals are often shifted to a later time.
2) Unbalanced diet, which ultimately leads to a strong feeling of hunger closer to night.
3) Stress, the desire to receive positive emotions through food (especially fatty or sweet)2.
Overeating can also occur during holidays, which traditionally occur in the afternoon and are accompanied by a banquet. In such cases, the digestive system needs to be helped to fully digest food. This can be helped by preparations containing enzymes - substances that accelerate the breakdown of carbohydrates, fats and proteins, simplifying their absorption, and therefore reducing the load on the digestive organs.
You get heartburn
Heartburn is an extremely unpleasant sensation that you notice after eating spicy food or food that is difficult to digest. It may also be associated with overeating. The stomach produces acid for digestion. The more you eat, the more acid your stomach requires. This acid irritates the mucous membranes and can enter the esophagus. The result is heartburn, which can harm the tissues of the esophagus and even cause cancer.
You will gain weight and ruin your health.
When you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. It is not surprising that overeating leads to extra pounds. In addition, it increases the risk of other health problems. These problems include diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, which can also put you at risk of a heart attack.
You are developing depression
Binge eating disorder is a recognized psychological problem. People suffering from this disease often also experience depression and anxiety both before and after binge eating. Overeating often develops due to emotional difficulties; a person begins to eat in order to temporarily drown out the feeling of stress. When dopamine levels drop again, depression worsens. If you also start to gain weight, the problem becomes especially severe. The physical consequences of overeating cause psychological problems and loss of self-confidence. Overeating can further lead to clinical depression.
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