Handling emotions without turning to food can be a knotty problem, health professionals agree, involving inter- weaving physical, emotional and spiritual strands.


Physical Signals One solution is to simply pay attention to what our body is saying. Are we truly feeling hunger pangs? “When we eat in the absence of hunger cues, regularly choose unhealthy comfort foods or continue eating when we’re already full, something is out of balance,” observes Simon at OvereatingRecovery.com. Identifying “trigger” foods might also enlighten us, advis-


es Peeke. “You’re out of control if you have a particular food in your hand and you can’t just enjoy it, walk away and say, ‘Ahh, that was wonderful.’ Life’s okay without that particular food.” The key is being smart about which foods we need to eliminate and which ones will help us feel good and enjoy an overall better quality of life. “When you follow a plant-based, unprocessed, whole foods eating plan, your body chemistry becomes balanced and your biochemical signals (hunger, cravings and fullness) work well,” explains Simon. “Each time you eat, you feel satisfied and balanced, physically and emotionally.”


Emotional Underpinnings Once we understand the physical component of emotional hunger, we can address the feelings that cause it. Most famous for their Rescue Remedy herbal and floral drops that


help soothe anxiety, Bach Flower Essences recently created an Emotional Eating Support Kit that includes homeopathic essences of crabapple, cherry plum and chestnut bud. They maintain that four daily doses can help us think clearly and calmly when we fear losing control, plus objectively observe mistakes and learn from them. Some feelings, however, can’t be “gentled” away. “Soothe the small stuff, grieve the big stuff,” Simon advises. Experienc- ing abandonment, betrayal, domination or violation may re- quire therapy. Lesser stressors can often be soothed by music, being outdoors, talking to a friend, taking a warm bath, walk- ing, meditative yoga or pausing to pray—instead of eating. “No matter how sophisticated or wise or enlightened


you believe you are, how you eat tells all,” maintains Ge- neen Roth, author of Women, Food, and God: An Unexpect- ed Path to Almost Everything. “Your world is on your plate.” Roth came to terms with her own food addictions and now leads retreats to help others do the same. When we begin to understand what prompts us to use food


to numb or distract ourselves, the process takes us deeper into realms of spirit and to the bright center of our lives, says Roth. She urges us to be present in the moment and to use good food as a sort of meditation. Notice the beautiful greens in the salad and bless the farmer that grew them. It’s one path to realizing the essence of food that’s good for us is a blessing we deserve.


Award-winning cookbook author Judith Fertig blogs at AlfrescoFoodAndLifestyle.blogspot.com.


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