Stress Eating

Dear Senserely Yours,

            My finals are coming up soon and I’ve been busy studying all week. In order to stay awake, I’ve been eating a ton of food. Chocolates, junk food, ice cream, you name it. However, I’ve been starting to notice that the food I used to love doesn’t taste as good as it used to. I don’t know what’s happening. Even my comfort food, my mom’s pasta doesn’t taste as delicious as I remember. Is the quality of food getting worse or is there something wrong with me? HELP! I can’t focus on my readings with my problem.

From,

Aly

We eat a lot when we're stressed

Dear Aly,

            I appreciate that you took time off from your studying to ask your question. In return, I’ll try to keep my answer brief and concise so you can go back to your schoolwork.

            I don’t think the taste of the food you’ve been eating has drastically changed, although I do have to warn you to lessen your junk food intake because it’s not a healthy habit. I do think you are under tremendous pressure to do well in your finals and this is causing you a lot of stress. Stress does not only affect your focus and concentration, but also your taste perception.

             A groundbreaking study by Donaldson (2006) revealed that there are two neurotransmitters that cause taste disturbances, noradrenaline and serotonin. Believe it or not, when you are under stress, you have lower noradrenaline and serotonin levels. This causes impairments in your taste perception.

            Specifically, a study by Breslin shows that when you are anxious, you become less sensitive to fatty taste. This causes you take eat more fatty foods because you require a larger amount before you can start tasting the fatty flavour. Now that’s why you can’t stop eating junk food!

            You must be wondering how exactly does stress affect taste perception. Well, it all comes down to our brain’s attentional capacity. Basically, this means that because most of our cognitive resources are focused on doing a particular task, such as reading or studying for a difficult exam, there is less that can be used to perceive taste. This is why food starts to taste bland. And like in Breslin’s study, causes you to take in more food because you try to satiate your preference for more intense flavours.

            I hope I was able to answer your question, Aly!  Don’t be too sad about the food. Once you finish this stressful part of your life. Your taste perception will slowly go back to normal and you can enjoy food again! Until next time!

REFERENCES:

Fleming, A. (2013).  How stress affects your food: from distorted tastes to comfort eating. The     Guardian.   Retrieved http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/dec/03/stress-food-tastes-comfort-eating-depression-anxiety

Heath, T. P., Melichar, J. K., Nutt, D. J., & Donaldson, L. F. (2006). Human taste thresholds are       modulated by serotonin and noradrenaline. The Journal of neuroscience, 26(49), 12664-12671.

van der Wal, R. C., & van Dillen, L. F. (2013). Leaving a Flat Taste in Your Mouth Task Load Reduces Taste Perception. Psychological science, 24(7), 1277-1284.