Eating reports

Found a few articles today about Britain's Economic and Social Research Council's recent report about stress-induced eating habits.

University of Leeds researchers looked at the relationship between snacking and stress. "Stress" isn't defined as really big things such as losing your job or a death or an accident. What they were looking at can be classified as life's minor annoyances--misplacing your keys, a line-up at the ATM, the loud mobile phone talker on the train...That sort of thing.

In sum,

• Subjects who reported at least one minor hassle per day ate less at their main meals, but ate "significantly" more between-meal snacks;
• In an annoying day (one where subjects had several hassles), female reached for fatty and/or sugary snacks; on such days, both sexes ate fewer vegetable portions;
• As the week went on (and hassles mounted), subjects (especially men) ate more fibre and fat;
• "Ego-threatening, interpersonal and work-related" stressors triggered more snacking, but subjects ate less when faced with "physical" stressors;
• Dieters, emotional eaters, those who eat because of external factors (because they smell or see something), overeaters, along with obese people and women are more likely to snack when stressed;
• Subjects in a demanding job where they have little control snack more;
• Women who work longer hours (undefined afaik), eat more sugar and fat, exercise less, and (those who smoke) smoke more, and
• Men and women who work longer hours drink less alcohol.

So...

I'm reading the articles and the report brief and a couple of things pop to mind...

I'm not surprised--when people are stressed, they look for comfort food. For many, this means foods that are high in fats and carbs. Let's face it, a broccoli floret really doesn't make me feel better when I'm stressed.

I've read somewhere that it's programming from long back that corresponds to the fight-or-flight response. Scientifically, carbs increase tryptophan that releases serotonin into our brains. In other words, carb-rich foods make us happy.

The other thing that came to mind was last week's StatsCan article on the Canadian diet, and in particular, cbc.ca's headline "Most Canadians aren't eating a balanced diet - too much fat, too few veg."

On the positive side, our diet is improving, but it's still not a great way to eat...especially when you realize that 25 per cent of those polled ate fast food take-away within the previous 24 hours. Snacking accounts for more of our caloric intake than breakfast (the most important meal of the day, or so I was told)--18 per cent of our daily consumed calories came from breakfast compared to 23 per cent from snacks. 41 per cent of our snacking calories come from the "other food category" (not milk, meat, grains, fruits & veg).

As for me, I'd say...yeah, when I'm stressed chocolate and caffeine keeps me going throughout the day. I'm actually quite conscious about eating more veg (and starches) when I'm stressed--I feel better balanced when I avoid meat. That said, sometimes, on a particularly bad day, week or month, a beautifully grilled, thick and juicy steak appeals to my carnivorous nature and soothes the beast within...

Mind you, you will soon see how I've been dealing with my recent stresses...

cheers!
jasmine

tags: Comfort food Snacks