Feeling guilty about eating has several consequences. Here we tell you what these consequences are, why they occur and how to deal with them.
Feelings and food often go hand in hand. We don’t always realize this connection, but every time we eat, we feel something connected to our food. Negative feelings about food can promote feelings of guilt about eating.
Guilt is the feeling of having done something wrong or of having hurt something or someone. In the case of food guilt, the act of eating is perceived as negative.
When do you feel guilty about eating?
Just as we can feel guilty about certain problems in our personal environment, in the area of food, we can also have this feeling. Overeating or eating a certain dish can lead to this feeling ; the person feels bad about gaining weight.
The consequences of feeling guilty about food exist. Among them are psychological disorders. We detail them below.
Bulimia
The bulimia is a disorder in which the patient experiences abnormal hunger and compulsive binge eating. But then he feels guilt and discomfort. This causes him to vomit, take laxatives, or exercise too much. By binge eating, we mean very short episodes of rapid and very large food consumption.
Moreover, in times of overeating, patients are ashamed of their behavior, so they promise not to repeat it. The person therefore enters a cycle marked by binge eating followed by feelings of guilt and an attempt to purge calories. There is dissatisfaction with the body and an intensification of the restrictive diet.
Bulimia can lead to complications following:
- Dehydration
- Severe tooth decay
- Anxiety and depression
- Absent menstrual periods.
- Substance abuse and self-harm
- Heart and digestive problems
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Anorexia
Anorexia is a psychiatric disorder that is characterized by the refusal to maintain a normal minimum weight through restriction of caloric intake or excessive energy expenditure. In these cases, guilt, obsession, rejection and strong competitiveness cause a vicious circle.
The complications and physical alterations of this disease are multiple and affect different levels:
- Arrhythmia
- Amenorrhea
- Hypertension
- Malnutrition
- Hair loss
- Nail atrophy
- Lack of attention and concentration
- Alterations in the perception of hunger and satiety
binge eating disorder
This is a disorder in which a person eats a much larger amount of food than normal. Unlike other eating disorders, here the person does not wish to burn calories.
The person feels shame and guilt. His hunger responds to anxiety, discomfort and emotional instability. Then the phenomenon of emotional hunger appears.
This is the type of hunger that appears as a response to emotional needs. It comes on suddenly and persistently, and the sensation persists despite eating.
This problem can lead to other health problems, such as:
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Overweight
- Digestive problems
- Articular pain
- Menstrual cycle alterations
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How do you deal with feeling guilty about eating?
This process involves the help of professionals in the psychological field. They help the patient understand their body and understand that no food is bad if eaten in moderation.
Mindful eating
It is recommended to adopt a conscious diet to try to identify the cause at the origin of the negative emotions felt. It is a conscious ingestion process.
Physiological hunger vs emotional hunger
Another step that can be taken to manage feelings of guilt over eating is tolearn to identify physiological hunger in order to ignore emotional hunger. Hunger physiology is the need for our body to obtain nutrients. At this time, a series of signals are triggered to let us know that it is time to eat.
Emotional hunger is related to the mind. The person is not hungry, but wants to ingest a specific food.
Eat just to recharge energy
In general, it’s recommended to eat alone to replenish energy, and if you’re feeling guilty, see a mental health professional. A series of serious problems can thus be avoided.
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