Emptying an ice cream container or a bag of chips after a long week of (tele)work? There’s a completely normal explanation for this: a “stressed” brain releases hormones, including adrenaline, which energizes your muscles for a fight or flight response. Once the adrenaline wears off, the body tries to replenish its lost energy stores with food, says David A. Merrill.
The problem is that when you’re stressed for reasons that involve very little or no physical activity, you’re still biologically programmed to eat after a stressful episode (and this, even when you don’t really need it).
Foods high in fat and sugar dramatically increase pleasure chemicals in the brain, which makes you feel temporarily better, he explains. It is for this reason that you tend to consume snack foods rather than a salad, for example.
Weight gain or loss is one of the symptoms of depression that should never be ignored.