HCG Diet Direct Weighs in on Emotional Causes of Obesity::

HCG Diet Direct weighs in on the connection between emotional eating and obesity. Emotional overeating is thought to be a result of stress, depression, anger, boredom, and other emotional states that have nothing to do with hunger.

HCG Diet Direct’s Jenny Boynton comments, “Emotional eating is something we can all relate to. From a stressful day at work to anxieties with human relationships, finding happiness in comfort food is something not unfamiliar. We have all experienced bouts of emotional eating. For many obese individuals, it is a root cause.”

WebMD.com cites many differences between physical hunger and emotional hunger:

• Emotional hunger come on suddenly; physical hunger occurs gradually
• Craving a specific food such as pizza or ice cream and feeling that you must have that and only that food
• Emotional hunger feels like it needs to be satisfied instantly with craved food. When you eat
• Even when you are full, if you are eating to satisfy an emotional need, you are more likely to keep eating. When you are eating out of hunger, you are more likely to stop when full.
• Emotional eating can leave behind feelings of guilt, eating when you are physically hungry does not.

Emotional states that contribute to emotional eating:

• Eating to stop unwanted feelings or to suppress sadness, loneliness, boredom, guilt, etc.
• Using food to create peace of mind, happiness, or a sense of control or security  

“Realizing that there is an emotional connection and indentifying the trigger can be the first step to losing weight,” says Boynton.