Sweets Offer Relief?

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:59:54 +0000

When it’s cold outside and not much going on, some of my clients tell me how bored they feel–or lonely, anxious, depressed–and the one thing that comforts, the one constant, is food. Especially sweets. I usually explain that turning to food must serve some purpose, and I ask about the perceived purpose and the resulting impact. How do you feel during the eating episode? Then what about after? Always the sequence of responses: great/dizzy/occupied then guilty/stressed/anxious.

The cure? Eat, and repeat.

But we know this doesn’t work because it leads to binge eating (either a subjective or an objective binge), and when the episode is over the client feels worse–not better. The very thing/feeling that made her or him eat in the first place is still there. The boredom or the anxiety or the loneliness or the depression never went anywhere. It was masked for a moment. I encourage clients to explore this with me and/or with a psychotherapist, if appropriate.

Geneen Roth wrote recently (Good Houkeeping magazine, July 2009): “After having devoted a lot of my life to being anxious about things that never came to pass, I’ve finally realized that worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair all day and thinking you’re actually going somewhere.” Geneen’s solution, which I adore: “[Notice], on a daily basis, everything that you don’t have to worry about. Everything that is already fine, vibrant, thriving.”

To close, as I tell my clients, when thinking of reaching for food, first identify if it’s from physiological hunger or from emotional hunger. Then proceed accordingly.

Coffee, Vindicated

admin — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:16:00 +0000

For years my clients have been told by well-intentioned health providers that coffee is a no no. But that advice is a no no. Consider the latest report, published June 17, 2008, in Annals of Internal Medicine, which gives coffee the OK. A high source of potassium, which is beneficial for blood pressure, coffee may may impart reduced risk for diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. This study revealed an association that coffee drinkers are less likely to die from heart disease than non-drinkers.

Some points to balance the equation:

1. Caffeine from a cup of coffee elevates blood pressure temporarily in some people. The elevation in pressure equals climbing a flight of stairs. But pressure returns to normal.

2. Caffeine may worsen anxiety. If you’re anxious or have some other mental illness, you may wish to avoid caffeinated beverages.

3. Caffeine may cause insomnia.

4. “Association,” which I mentioned above, is not synonymous with causation.
5. Don’t overdo accoutrements, like cream and flavored syrups.

One Source Nutrition » anxiety

Sweets Offer Relief?

Coffee, Vindicated