Emotional eating occurs when people turn to food as a source of comfort, especially during difficult situations. Food noise, on the other hand, is the non-stop chatter about food in your head. Food noise can be triggered by physical elements or food cues in the environment. 

While seeking comfort in foods or having thoughts about food is not entirely bad, it’s important to know where to draw the line. 

Not knowing where to draw the line may create patterns of unhealthy eating behaviors. If anything, unhealthy eating patterns disrupt weight management efforts. They also endanger a person’s physical and mental health.

An adequate understanding of emotional eating and how it differs from food noise will equip you with valuable insights. These insights will inform your eating habits and promote your general well-being. 

This blog post will break down the concept of emotional eating and food noise. We’ll also uncover their causes, telltale signs of emotional eating and food noise, and practical strategies for managing food noise and emotional eating behaviors.

 

Overview of food noise

When a person is constantly bombarded with thoughts of food, then they are experiencing what experts call food noise. Any kind of noise (e.g. noise pollution) is often unwanted and disruptive. Similarly, food noise has to do with unwanted and often disruptive thoughts about food. These thoughts are intrusive and constantly make you picture your next meal. 

Food noise is not always bad. In fact, thinking about your next meal or planning a structured diet is great for maintaining your health. It sometimes serves as a reminder of what to eat and what not to eat. 

However, food noise becomes a problem when it disrupts your focus or mental well-being. 

 

Signs of food noise

Every day, we come in contact with information or advice that puts the thoughts of food in our heads. This makes it easy to overlook the signs of excessive food noise until it becomes a big problem. 

Here are some signs that you may be experiencing excessive food noise: 

 

Frequently thinking about food

When you find yourself constantly thinking about food, it’s a sign that there’s trouble in your food paradise. Most times, you may also find yourself planning the next meal or anticipating snacks even when you don’t feel hungry.

 

Habitual cravings

There’s nothing wrong with having cravings now and then. The problem starts when satisfying “cravings” becomes habitual and irresistible. The feeling and desire to eat specific foods(especially those with high calories) are almost irresistible. When you get into the habit of satisfying these cravings, you lose focus and concentration.

You’re in a meeting or social gathering, and poof! your mind sways to how delightful it would be to have a chocolate dumpling immediately. Thoughts like this are disruptive. 

When food thoughts frequently interfere with your daily activities like this, it affects your focus. It’s hard to be fully present in the activity or work you’re engaged in.

 

Impulsive choice of foods

Food noise can also drive you to make the food choices you didn’t plan for. You walk into a coffee shop to grab a cappuccino, but the sight of glazed doughnuts catches your eye. 

Eventually, you end up going home with a box full of them. It wasn’t planned. But the idea of having something sweet was stronger than the need to keep the credit card in your pocket. 

 

Causes of food noise

To manage food noise effectively, it’s important to understand the root cause. With that understanding, you can be aware and make better decisions that impact your health positively. 

That said, here are the biggest contributors to food noise: 

 

Exposure to food environment and images

The way the brain is wired and constantly exposed to food environments may lead to subsequent food intake. Studies point to how visual exposure to food can trigger the desire to eat. 

 

Food information overload

If you use the internet or even log on to social media often, you’ll encounter several food trends. There’s more information on food, the right diet, and nutritional guidelines than we know what to do with. 

Adding vegetables to your meal may be a great eating habit today. Tomorrow, vegetables may be tagged as “the silent killers.” The truckload of food information on the net makes food choices confusing and overwhelming.

 

Low blood sugar level

Low sugar levels are a big contributor to cravings for sugary foods. They drive you to keep seeking quick energy sources such as candy bars, granola bars with added sugar, you name it.

 

Lack of adequate sleep

When you’re getting enough sleep, it tends to affect internal signals that regulate eating. Hormones like ghrelin and leptin, which signal when to eat and when to stop, won’t be at their best. This explains why energy sources like soda, candy bars, etc., become desirable compensation. 

 

Physical and emotional stress

Stress tends to increase cortisol levels. Increased cortisol levels amp up food cravings, especially for those high in calories and sugar. Food noise triggered by stress can make an individual seek consolation in food. It gives you temporary relief from stress and helps you feel relaxed.

 

Types of food noise

Some common types of food noise include: 

 

• Environmentally induced food noise: This form of food noise is triggered by food cues in your environment. For instance, seeing others eat can suddenly make you feel like eating. Similarly, exposure to food ads or aromas tends to increase food appetite and the desire to consume food right away. 

• Habit-related food noise: It happens when a particular task or activity makes you crave a snack or food. In this case, food noise is like a routine or pattern you stick to during a specific activity or time of the day.  

• Emotionally driven food noise:This type of food noise arises as a response to one’s emotions. People tend to exhibit emotion-driven food noise in stressful situations or times of loneliness.

 

Is food noise considered an eating disorder?

Food noise is not generally categorized as an eating disorder. However, intense or frequent food noise can significantly contribute to eating disorders. When food noise persists, it can lead to binge eating disorder or night eating syndrome. Both forms of eating disorders endanger health.

Also, people diagnosed with eating disorders may exhibit restrictive eating habits—a behavior that is not commonly associated with food noise or emotional eating.

 

Effective strategies to overcome food noise

When food noise becomes excessive, it leads to unhealthy eating cycles. These cycles pose threats to a person’s health and can negatively impact weight management efforts.

If you’re struggling with intrusive thoughts about food, here are strategies to combat them: 

 

Minimize exposure to food cues/triggers

Identify the sources of exposure to images of food. If certain social media accounts expose you to food imagery, minimize the time spent on such accounts. 

Curate your feeds to avoid food-heavy content that can be so tempting. Limiting visual exposure to food images and food environments helps in reducing food noise.  

 

Maintain a structured eating habit

Following a structured and clinically approved eating schedule is effective in overcoming food noise. A structured eating schedule helps regulate blood glucose, which in turn reduces intrusive food thoughts that pop up between meals. 

 

Practice mindful human eating behavior

When you practice mindful eating, you’re no longer at the mercy of distorted hunger signals. Mindfulness during meals helps your mind remain present. That way, you avoid engaging in mindless eating and recognizing “true” hunger signals becomes much easier.

 

Engage in regular exercises

Physical activities or exercises help your body release “feel-good hormones” like endorphins. These hormones spread “happy juices” all over your body and serve as a great distraction. This kind of distraction can help to reduce food noise.

 

Take weight loss medications

A weight loss medication like Semaglutide is proven to be an effective strategy for dealing with food noise. The FDA-approved injection imitates GLP 1 (glucagon-like peptide 1), a natural hormone released after eating. It keeps you feeling full long after eating, which will help reduce cravings for junk foods. 

At La Vie MD, we administer effective weight loss treatments like Semaglutide. This medication helps users shed 10% to 20% of body fat and eliminates the chances of feeling overwhelmed by unwanted food thoughts.

Read also: Semaglutide Weight Loss Program: How It Works & What to Expect. 

 

Overview of emotional eating

People respond to emotions in different ways. For most people, one of the most satisfying responses to emotions is food. Emotional eating occurs when you constantly turn to food in response to negative emotions (even positive emotions). 

Engaging in emotional eating makes you crave comfort foods that bring instant pleasure. For some people, emotional eating is a coping mechanism that offers an “escape” from negative emotions. 

Emotional eaters mostly seek out comfort foods such as burgers, fries, and pizza. These foods have one thing in common: they are rich in calories and sugar. Since “eating” is driven by emotions, emotional eaters may end up feeding on more calories than the body needs.

 

Signs of emotional eating

The first step to addressing emotional eating is to identify the signs. Here are signs that show a person may have emotional eating problems: 

 

• Craving junk foods: People with emotional eating problems often have strong desires for junk foods. This desire is mostly triggered when experiencing stress or sadness.  
• Eating without feeling hungry: When food becomes a coping mechanism, it’s a clear sign of emotional eating. Instead of using food as a response to physical hunger. You use it to manage emotions.
• Feeling ashamed or guilty after eating: Emotional eating often leaves you feeling guilty afterward. The big box of chocolates didn’t look so big while you were eating until you finished it and you realized you overdid it. After overeating like this, you may begin to give yourself “hard knocks” in the end. This makes you feel ashamed and guilty.

 

Causes of emotional eating

Now that you know the signs of emotional eating, what are the root causes? Let’s examine them: 

 

Emotional distress

Emotions like sadness, anxiety, or loneliness trigger emotional eating. The savory taste that comes with sweets or junk foods offers temporary comfort. It keeps you distracted from those unpleasant emotions. But after eating, you’re back to the same old feelings, and like that, the cycle of eating continues.

 

Increased cortisol levels

When the body is stressed, cortisol levels increase. Increased cortisol levels trigger high-calorie cravings, which potentially increase weight gain. Similarly, high levels of dopamine (a type of feel-good hormone) from activities like exercising can trigger the need to reward yourself with junk food.

After a long and stressful day at work, you’re having your favorite pizza for dinner. It’s a rewarding way to end the day, right? No doubt. This becomes a problem if every other stressful day ends with munching a 14-inch pizza. 

 

Cultural/social practice

Emotional eating can be traced to certain cultural or social practices. Many people use food as a reward for tasks or a job well done. If you were promised a bowl of ice cream after cleaning your room, you probably know how rewarding it feels to have the ice cream after fulfilling the condition. This type of reward system is not entirely bad. However, consistent practice may condition a person to turn to food as a reward or during stressful situations.

 

What is the difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger?

Physical hunger occurs when your body gets physical cues, such as a growling or rumbling stomach. When your stomach starts to growl or rumble, it’s a cue for physical hunger. The growling in your stomach doesn’t show up out of the blue. It develops gradually and is easily satisfied with a variety of foods. 

Conversely, emotional hunger is a sudden feeling. It comes with specific cravings for comfort foods. Even after eating, emotional hunger can persist, making you eat more than you should. 

Physical hunger is a signal that drives healthy eating and nourishment. Emotional hunger, on the other hand, is deeply rooted in persistent cravings that deplete the health. 

 

Is emotional eating considered an eating disorder?

Emotional eating is not a direct causative of eating disorders. However, emotional eating can be a pointer to eating disorders such as binge eating disorders. 

Eating food is a normal response to physical hunger. However, responding to emotions with food means you’re indulging in emotional eating. 

On special occasions, emotional eating may be harmless. However, an overreliance on food as a coping mechanism poses threats to your physical and mental health. It can intensify health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity, among others.

 

Effective strategies to overcome emotional eating

 

Adopting the following strategies will help you stop emotional eating:

Identify emotional eating triggers: What emotions or situations surround your emotional eating episodes? Identify them, and if possible, document them in a journal. Identifying the emotions or situations that create cravings helps you take proactive steps. 

 

• Adopt alternative coping skills: There are several healthy alternatives for processing emotions. Some of these alternatives include exercising, meditation, journaling, and hanging out with friends. Consider adopting these alternatives. They will help break the cycles of food as a coping mechanism.
• Take a balanced diet: Be intentional about your diet. Focus mainly on nutrient-packed meals with sufficient protein and fiber. This will bring the cravings down a notch. More importantly, it helps to differentiate when you’re physically hungry from when you’re emotionally hungry.
• Seek expert help: It may be harder to deal with emotional eating alone if you’re struggling with chronic anxiety or stress. It helps to seek the help of a dietitian or therapist. These professionals will provide tools and support to manage your eating habits.

 

Key differences between emotional eating and food noise

 

Emotional eating and food noise may sometimes overlap in how they affect human eating behavior. Nonetheless, their features, triggers, and purposes differentiate them. Understanding these differences will promote clarity and healthier habits. Let’s get to it: 

 

1. Triggers

Emotional eating is triggered by emotions, which may include boredom, stress, or excitement/happiness. People with emotional eating problems find solace in specific types of comfort foods. 

Turning to these comfort foods is how they cope with their emotions. For instance, someone may seek comfort in a bowl of ice cream after a hard day’s work.

On the other hand, food noise can create a food-cue reactivity with the environment. Visual exposure to food can prompt cravings or certain food thoughts. For instance, stumbling on a food ad on social media can trigger the desire to eat. 

Unlike emotional eating, food noise is activated when the senses (specifically the sense of sight and smell) come into contact with food in the environment. 

 

2. Hunger type

Emotional hunger is largely associated with emotional eating. This type of hunger feels urgent and irresistible, and it is almost always directed at specific junk foods. 

Even when a person is not physically hungry, emotional hunger/cravings may persist. In this case, satisfying an emotional need precedes the physical one.

Conversely, food noise can be linked to physical and psychological cravings. For instance, a genuinely hungry person may walk past a taco shop, and the thought of having tacos is prompted. They may respond to the food noise by getting tacos right then and there. 

Food noise can also trigger psychological cravings. Some of these cravings may not be related to physical hunger. For example, why does popcorn seem like the perfect snack for a Netflix and chilling moment? Popcorn during movies is a tradition that is stamped into the movie-watching experience. 

Everybody endorses it, even the popcorn. As such, popcorn has become a habitual/psychological snack attached to watching movies.

 

3. Choices of food

A person with emotional eating problems seeks specific foods that are high in calories, sugar, carbohydrates, or fat. Their savory and sweet taste instantly lifts moods. However, this mood-lifting tendency is temporary and often short-lived.

When it comes to food noise, food choices depend on environmental cues. After seeing an ad for pasta stir fry, you may begin to crave pasta. Similarly, perceiving the aroma coming from the bakery may trigger the desire for pastry. Food choices can range from healthy to unhealthy options. It usually depends on the cue that triggered the food noise.

 

4. Eating frequency

Eating frequency is another element that differentiates food noise from emotional eating. Emotional eating is mostly triggered by specific emotional states, and it may be less frequent unless a person experiences these states frequently. 

For instance, you could eat emotionally once or twice weekly during downtimes. It may not happen every other day unless you consistently experience emotional triggers.

Unlike emotional eating, food cues in the environment trigger food noise. You experience food noise when you are constantly exposed to food. In extreme cases, this can lead to an unhealthy cycle of eating, which can go on or happen multiple times in a day.

 

5. Purpose of eating  

For emotional eaters, food is a temporary escape from challenges or emotional events. This type of mindless eating serves as a comfort or distraction from their emotions.

However, food noise is a response to habitual or environmental factors. In this case, the urge to eat doesn’t stem from the need to cope with emotions. Rather, the urge stems from an almost automatic response to food cues.

 

When to seek professional help for emotional eating and food noise

 

Satisfying your cravings once in a while can happen occasionally. Seeking comfort in a bowl of ice cream sundae when feeling stressed is not entirely bad.

But when satisfying your cravings or taking comfort foods starts to affect your daily life, it becomes a problem.

Extreme cases of emotional eating or food noise can potentially disrupt your daily life. It can lead to a series of overeating, guilt-tripping, and significant weight gains. If you start exhibiting any of the signs highlighted below, then it may be time to seek help. 

 

Non-stop episodes of emotional eating

If food is your go-to for coping with stress or sadness, there might be a problem. In most cases, it means eating is your major emotional support. This is pretty unhealthy. It is also indicative that you need professional help.

 

Persistently feeling guilty and ashamed 

When responding to food noise or eating emotionally creates cycles of guilt or shame, it’s time for a professional to step in. Consistent cycles or feelings of guilt, shame, or regret can damage self-esteem.

 

Uncontrollable and intrusive thoughts of food cravings

Do the thoughts of food constantly interrupt your daily life? Do these thoughts eventually lead to impulsive eating? If so, you may be struggling with a type of food noise that requires professional intervention.

 

Negative health impacts 

When emotional eating or food noise contributes to weight gain, it’s time to address it with professional help. Excessive weight gain can lead to health problems like high blood pressure or even diabetes. To avoid health issues, nip the unhealthy eating behaviors in the bud with personalized support from professionals at La ViE MD.

 

Takeaway: Develope healthy eating habits with the best professional help

Emotional eating causes people to seek comfort in foods that are high in calories, sugar, and fat. The desire to eat these comfort foods is mostly triggered by certain emotional events, which may include stress, sadness, or even excitement. 

Food noise, on the other hand, is persistent and unwanted thoughts about food. It lingers in your mind and eventually distracts you from your daily life. 

It’s important to know when emotional eating or food noise is getting out of hand. Negative impacts such as weight gain, increased anxiety, over-reliance on junk, etc., are signs you may need professional help.

LA ViE MD practitioners provide effective coping mechanisms customized to meet your specific needs. Our holistic approach equips you with the right tools and creates lasting changes in your eating habits.

Ready to break free from irresistible eating patterns driven by emotions or environmental cues? Book an appointment today to kick-start your journey to healthy living.

 

FAQs

Got questions? Check out our curated list of frequently asked questions and their answers below: 

 

How do I know if I am an emotional eater?

Take the time to reflect on your reasons or purpose for eating. If you’re always eating, even when you’re not hungry, that’s a sign of emotional eating. Similarly, if specific comfort foods become an emotional crutch for sadness or boredom, you may be an emotional eater.

 

What do I replace emotional eating with?

You can replace emotional eating with alternative activities that bring comfort. These activities may include taking a stroll, journaling, or hanging out with loved ones. Even a nap can sometimes do wonders.

 

Which hormone triggers food noise?

A hunger hormone like ghrelin tends to intensify food noise. It creates a growl in your tummy that makes you desire to eat. However, food cues in the environment are the common influencers of food noise. 

 

How does food noise impact weight loss efforts?

Food noise can negatively impact your weight management or weight loss efforts. It is hard to stick to a healthy diet when you’re constantly exposed to comfort foods and give in to the cravings. And every time you default, the weight you lose comes right back. 

 

How does food noise affect your mental health?

Food noise can increase a person’s preoccupation with food. This can also lead to increased anxiety and stress. Consequently, increased stress or anxiety takes a toll on mental‌ health. However, seeking professional help can help you stop food noise and the effects that follow.

 

Why do some individuals experience more food noise compared to others?

The level of exposure a person has to foods(specifically unhealthy foods), may differ. For instance, someone who constantly wakes up to the sight or smell of pizza may experience more food noise. Unlike someone who probably only sees pizza when he or she logs on to social media. The difference in food noise intensity can also be tied to a person’s genetics or personal habits.