The Emotional Messages Of Food
Foods can literally tell the story of our current life and situations. From a young age food becomes connected to a variety of emotions and social interactions. By paying attention to your diet, you can get in touch with your inner heart and respond to your deeper needs in less self-sabotaging ways and in more self-loving ways than literally feeding your feelings. If you change your attitude and behavior, your food cravings and dietary habits will also become healthier.
This list may help you to see your cravings and food choices through the eyes of self-acceptance, self-respect, and kindness, and as a result, make the shift to eating healthier.
Crunchy foods: Anger. Crunchy foods help us act out our anger in a safe way, providing us an outlet so we don’t have to deal with the people or circumstances causing us to be angry.
Salty foods: Fear. We crave salty foods because we want to have more “spice” in our lives but are too scared to take a risk.
High-gluten or wheat products: Comfort and safety. What’s more comforting than a warm cinnamon roll, mashed potatoes, or a bowl of pasta? Gluten products give us the comfort and safety we need in a non-threatening way. Has a cinnamon roll ever rejected you?
Sugar: Excitement. When we can’t provide excitement for ourselves, sugar does it for us; if we’re unable to allow someone else to share joy with us, we can use sugar as a substitute playmate.
Dairy (milk, ice cream, fatty cheese): Love. Our first food was milk—mother’s milk. Rich, sugary, and/or fatty dairy products represent the unconditional love love we received—or were supposed to receive—during infancy. We crave dairy products and foods when we desire unconditional love and protection and can’t find it in our everyday lives.
Chocolate: Sexual drive. We’re all sensual, sexual beings. Eating chocolate is a safe way to feel sensual when our life lacks romance. It’s also a substitute for the sex and physical love we need but might be too frightened to obtain.
Alcohol: Acceptance. If you don’t feel accepted for who you really are, or worse, if you were punished for being yourself when you were young, alcohol can provide the illusion of self-acceptance. It can also protect you from the perceived dangers of intimacy. The sugar in alcohol can serve as a substitute for excitement. The corn in alcohol can buffer feelings of failure, and grain alcohol can give us the warm feelings we might lack in our relationships.
Corn: Success. We all want to be and to feel successful. Eating corn or corn products can not only momentarily imbue us with a sense of professional success, but also cushion us from deep-seated feelings of insecurity and failure.
Fatty foods: Shame. Fatty foods hide our internal shame. They also cocoon us in a bubble of shame (fat) so we’re safe from other people. After all, letting someone in close might make us feel even worse about ourselves.
If you’re ready to address self-sabotaging behaviors ours and understand what cues your body is sending you, book your discovery call today!
