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When I'm at home, I don't even feel hungry, but I just feel bored. Even when I watch TV or read a book, food keeps invading my mind. Eventually, I endure it until I overeat. This is not because of a lack of energy, but a form of 'pleasure-driven appetite' as a way to relieve stress.
Pleasure-driven appetite is commonly observed in office workers and students who are prone to stress, as well as in people whose sleep-wake cycles are disrupted. When feeling emotionally depressed or overwhelmed with work or worries, the level of serotonin, known as the happiness hormone, drops. To increase serotonin secretion, signals are sent to the brain to fill up on sugar. Sugar is a quick energy source that is rapidly transmitted to the brain and temporarily boosts serotonin secretion. Therefore, when feeling depressed or under severe work-related stress, pleasure-driven appetite tends to occur. In particular, when the secretion of cortisol, a stress hormone, becomes excessive, the balance between leptin, which suppresses appetite, and ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, is disrupted, leading to the emergence of pleasure-driven eating.
Additionally, sleep deprivation can lead to pleasurable appetite. This is because sleep also increases the secretion of cortisol, a stress hormone. When the circadian rhythm is disrupted due to insomnia or overnight work, hormone levels change, causing problems in chemical signaling and neural function. Our bodies try to recover from this imbalance by consuming more energy through food, which can increase appetite in the process. Moreover, lack of sleep impairs cognitive abilities and other brain functions, reducing the ability to control impulses. This further stimulates appetite and can lead to excessive food intake.
Therefore, to eliminate hedonic appetite, it is helpful to eat foods that promote the secretion of serotonin. To increase serotonin secretion, it is good to eat foods containing tryptophan. The representative foods rich in tryptophan are milk and meat. Milk is also rich in calcium, magnesium, and potassium, which help lower blood pressure caused by stress. Tryptophan is also abundant in almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, brown rice, soybeans, and bluefish. It is even better to eat them with lettuce, which is rich in vitamin B1 that helps stabilize nerves.
Additionally, getting restful sleep is also important. To achieve this, it is necessary to avoid snacking regardless of the type before bedtime. Eating before sleep can cause a sudden influx of energy into the body, which may disrupt the regulation of the sleep cycle. Moreover, snacks alone may not satisfy fullness, leading to increased cravings for more food and further decreasing sleep quality.
<Source: Health Chosun>
