Final Essay

Food and how it correlates with an individual's emotions is a very interesting topic. How someone can be so heavily affected by food is just fascinating to me, which is why I chose this topic from the beginning. Some people on the other hand feel that food and a person's emotions has no correlation what-so-ever, therefore it was this finding that motivated me to explore this topic even more.

When researching about this topic I was able to find many good sources. The two main research books were Food and Emotions by Mary Turk and Diet and Your Emotions: The Comfort Food Falsehood by Joan Esherick. In these two books I was able to discover anything from how overeating really is caused, to how different emotions cause us to eat for different reasons. Another great source I was able to use was the novel Artichoke Heart by Suzanne Supplee. I loved this book. It gave a different perspective of life of a person who experienced overeating first hand. Even though the novel was fiction, it still enabled me to better understand my topic. The way that the main character had to face all the obstacles in her life such as being ridiculed or even other issues she faced such as her mother having cancer was very interesting to me. The last thing I did for my research topic was I went and visited a Weight Watchers center to ask questions first hand about how eating effects a person's emotions. I was able to find out many interesting facts from the nice woman I interviewed and I was also able to see what their program was all about. By doing this she told me about their five aspect program and how they work with each individual to find what works for them to help them regain control of their eating habits. She also told me that the most seen comfort food was pizza, French fries, and chocolate which I could totally relate too.

I was able to learn so much from this project. Before I started researching, I had no idea that different foods can reflex different emotional problems you may be having. An example of this was if a person tends to crave spicy food, which may mean that they want a "kick" in their life. This was a wonderful learning experience and I was very satisfied with the topic I chose because I was actually able to learn something. I didn't want to choose a topic I already knew so much about and this was the perfect topic, because I really had no idea how food exactly correlated with a person's emotions.

I do wish I had done my project a little differently. I wish I had used more book sources to explain my point. Since I only used two books I felt like I didn't get enough varying opinions of my topic. Other than that, I felt as though my research project was a success. I would also really encourage other people to research this topic as well, because I feel as though there are many aspects that are unknown to the public.


I really enjoyed this project and was glad I chose the topic of how food and emotions correlate with each other. I was able to find many interesting facts and was able to learn a lot. I took a lot away from doing this and I'm glad I chose what I did.

Interview

I interviewed a woman at Weight Watchers, named Christa, in order to ask her a couple of questions about if emotions really do correlate with food. Some examples of my questions were as followed: "Does your program address the emotional as well as the physical side of being overweight?", "What's the most common comfort food?", "Do you have the same treatment for everyone or does it depend on their certain problems?", and ect. As I listened to her responses I found out a lot of interesting facts. She informed me that the most common comfort food is either french fries, pizza, or chocolate. When I asked her opinion of if food and emotions did correlate she said that she thought that it did. The reason being is in their 5 aspect program they try to change the way the participants think and react in order to affect their eating habits. She did also inform me that with each person it is different. Since Weight Watchers is based on a point system, she explained how the point value will vary from person to person. This just proves that when it come to emotions and eating habits, there is definitely a correlation.

I really enjoyed this interview with Christa. She was very friendly and open to any questions I had about their program. I was able to learn a lot from her and was glad that she could help me. I liked the fact that she also answered the questions that I had in a way that was easy to understand and that was to the point. I was able to learn many things about their program and I was also able to see the correlation with food and emotions applied to real life situations.

Christa. Personal Interview. Weight Watchers. 4 May 2010.

Artichoke Heart Review

Artichoke Heart by Suzanne Supplee was a magnificent novel about a young girl fighting the constant mocking of her own reflection. She is a girl who struggles with her weight and who seeks comfort in food. She faces anything from being called a fat artichoke, from feeling as though she needs to purge in order to lose weight. Even though the young girl, whose name is Rosemary (or Rosie for short), does not become bulimic she still has to deal with her constant urges to over eat. She also faces other challenges besides her looks though. She has a huge crush on this guy named Kyle Cox who she thinks is just dreamy. He is a star athlete, polite, and doesn’t mock people. Kyle is even really nice to Rosie which makes her like him even more. There’s only one problem though, Rosie feels as though because of her weight, that she won’t even have a chance with Kyle. But by the end of the novel they are together. Another challenge she faces is the fact that her mom has cancer. Even though the kind she has isn’t terminal, it still burdens her physically and causes her to have many difficult side effects such as a horrible cough and fatigue. Rosie also has to face the fact that she and her mom don’t have a very close relationship. Her mother would rather seek advice and comfort in her superficial aunt than she would her own daughter. Rosie’s aunt is just the kind of character in the novel that the reader can’t help but resent. She always trying to push Rosie to lose weight, but by all the wrong angles, instead of being supportive and sensitive to Rosie’s feelings, she’s blunt and just plain rude. Such as when they go to an unsuccessful weight seminar her aunt just bluntly says, “Why can’t you just lose weight, Rosie? I mean, is it so hard just to stop doing this?” (Supplee 54). By the end of the novel, though, Rosie manages to work through the majority of the obstacles that she had to face and even ends up with her dream guy.
I thought this was a fantastic novel. I felt that it just kept me turning the pages. I thought that it was something different from what I’m used to reading. The reason why is because instead of each problem just being solved really easily, Rosie actually has to fight and work hard to make the accomplishments that she does achieve, which I admire. I also enjoyed reading this novel because it had a great ending. I don’t normally like it when fictions end badly. Artichoke Heart is probably one of my favorite novels now and I look forward to reading more from Suzanne Supplee.
I liked reading this novel also because it went well with my research topic on how food correlates with emotions. I think that by Rosie seeking comfort and fulfillment in her appetite it is a way to cope with the many problems in her life. I think that Rosie feels more connection with a Hershey’s chocolate bar than she does her own mother in the beginning of the book. But as Rosie learns how to cope she ends up learning how to aim her hunger towards something else. An example of this would be how she would crave daydreams about Kyle Cox instead of craving food. I thought that this was a very appropriate novel for the topic and I think that it fit in pretty well. This novel also allowed me to better understand the connection food has with its emotional bond with people.

Supplee, Suzanne. Artichoke Heart. New York: Dutton Books, 2008. 1-276. Print.

Kinds of Emotions Associated With Eating

While researching how emotions affect eating habits, I was able to find a source that talked about certain kinds of feelings that may impact an individual’s diet more so than other feelings. The source I found was Diet and Your Emotions: The Comfort Food Falsehood by Joan Esherick. In chapter 2, she lists all kinds of emotions and its effects. The kinds of feelings she list are boredom, loneliness, anxiety/stress, fear, helplessness, sadness, bitterness/resentment, depression, and lastly frustration. These were the main emotions that caused a person to have emotional eating while she was researching this topic. Some examples to back up these emotions are as followed. For boredom it is because “It feels good and will help pass the time” (35). For loneliness it’s to fill the void in an individual’s life. By over eating it causes a person to feel as though they are treating themselves and making themselves feel special. For stress and anxiety it is to help calm a person’s nerves. The last example I’m going to talk about is for depression. When a person is depressed, food causes them to “feel better” when their lives are other wise full of disappointment. This was just some evidence to back up a few of the main emotions that Joan Esherick talks about in a chapter of her book.
I thought this chapter was very interesting. I had no idea that certain emotions were found to effect eating habits more so than other emotions. I was very curious to see how each emotion had a different reaction to food, like with boredom it was a pass time, but with stress and anxiety it was to calm someone’s nerves. I really enjoyed learning about this topic and I hope to learn even more about this in the future.

Esherick, Joan. Diet and Your Emotions: The Comfort Food Falsehood. Pennsylvania: Mason Crest Publishers Inc., 2006. 27-41. Print.

There are many problems that can be caused by food. Some people struggle sometimes with eating too little or too much. As Mary Turk explains in her book Food and Emotions she explains how food can correlate with a person's emotional state and health. She also states, "Compultive overeating sometimes is a substitute for love and friendship" (42). Therefore meaning that food can either be a sustitute for an emotion or even a mockery, like in anorexia and bulimia. She also talks about how these disorders may be caused by emotinal roots to begin with.
I thought this chapter in Mary Turk's novel was very informative. I felt as though she was trying to get a point across that an eating disorder is more than just a person wanting to lose weight or gain weight, but it's also about the emotional attachment between the food and the individual. I felt like this was a good way to get her views across and it was a really interesting chapter.

Turk, Mary. Food and Emotions. Minnesota: Capstone Press, 2001. 42-49. Print.

Is Food Really Your Friend?

When listening to the Medical News Today Video it explained about how many people look to food as their friend. One woman who was interviewed on the footage even said, "It was something that soothed, it was something that made the bad things go away." But the problem that many people face is the control of emotional eating. Certain people will eat to fill an emotional void, but then turn around and feel guilty for filling that void. This video talks about this vicious cycle and mentions certain individuals who had to fight the emotional attachment made between them and food. One very interesting fact that I heard was that "75% of over eating is tied to emotional needs." This just proves that there is a tie between food and emotions.

I thought this video was very interesting. I felt as though the Medical News Today staff made a video that was very informative and effective. It provided case studies and statistics which I felt made it an impact on its viewers. I was very intrigued by this video and thought that it made several valid points.

"Emotional Eating - When Food is Your Best Friend ." Medical News Today. Web. 13 May 2010. http://medicalnewstoday.healthology.com/hybrid/hybrid-autodetect.aspx?content_id=3954&focus_handle=losing-weight&brand_name=medicalnewstoday.

http://medicalnewstoday.healthology.com/hybrid/hybrid-autodetect.aspx?content_id=3954&focus_handle=losing-weight&brand_name=medicalnewstoday

Emotional Eating

A lot of people have the problem of eating their emotions. When a person feels stress, love, or even depression, food can become a factor. In the book Food and Emotions, Mary Turk talks about these things. She first mentions how food and love can often be connected. She explains that "Food can become a symbol of love and care. Later food may fill emotional needs,too"(35). Mary Turk also talks about depression and how it correlates with food. She talked about how when some people suffer from depression, that they basically eat their sorrows. Another interesting topic she mentioned in her book was stress and food. Often times it is known to be unconsious and that the person really doesn't think about what they're eating they just eat anyway. The final correlation she makes is crowds and food. She talks about how when someone is in a big crowd they are influenced by the eating habits around them even if it's not healthy for them. Most people feel the emotional pressure to participate in the food that is at that specific event.
I thought this chapter was very interesting and I learned some very attention-grabbing information. I didn't even realize that all of these things can effect eating patterns. I thought that Mary Turk's book was very informative.
Turk, Mary. Food and Emotions. Minnesota: Capstone Press, 2001. 34-41. Print.

Food Choices

Many people crave certain kinds of foods such as salty, sweet, crunchy, and spicy foods. Some people may even crave caffeine. But what people may not know is that based on the kind of food you choose may reveal how someone is feeling or wants to feel. In this very interesting video featuring a doctor named Dr. Deanna M. Minich, she descibes some of the emotions linked to these food choices. She explains first how sweet foods may cause a person to say that "we're lacking fun, we're lacking joy, and we want something sweet on the tongue even if it's for a couple of moments." This meaning the person needs more entertainment and happiness in there lives. The second kind of food that this doctor talks about is spicy food. She explains how when a person wants spicy foods that they may feel like they need a kick in their life. She says that these are normally the go-getters who want adventure but can't get it, therefore, they eat spicy food in order to fulfill that desired kick. The third item is salty foods. Dr. Minich expresses how when a person is drawn to salty foods, that individual is usually stressed and just want to relax, so they turn to the salty flavor to unwind. Caffeine is the fourth thing that she talks about. Caffeine is used as a boost for people who are mentally tired. By using this kick, the individual may feel a jult of newly produced energy. The final category of food that the doctor talks about is crunchy food. People who eat crunchy foods normally crave attention. By using that texture it makes a person feel as though they can fill that void.
I thought that this video was very interesting. I didn't know that certain people are attracted to different foods because of their emotional state. In a way though I do feel that sometimes these reasons and unconscious desires are a little far fetched. I did think it was fascinating to see the different food categories and how the doctor interpreted them though.
"What Your Food Cravings Say About Your Emotions." A M Northwest. Web. 8 Apr 2010. http://www.katu.com/amnw/segments/47070852.html.

Food Cravings

Many people have cravings no matter if it's chocolate or a caffeinated drink. Mary Turk talks about the effects of food cravings on an individual in her book Food and Emotions. One very interesting thing that she talks about is most people's longing for chocolate. Chocolate has actually been chemically tested and as it turns out, it contains certain chemicals that cause "good" neaurotransmitters to be released in the brain. The chemical Phenylethylamine has been found in chocolate which is also the the same chemical released when someone feels love. When Mary Turk states "Food says love" in her book it just proves that food can effect a person's emotions (30). Food can console someone, make someone feel loved, and also be someone's burden. In her book she talks about how some people struggle with addictions to certain foods and caffeine. The important thing is just to know how to control that craving. The last thing that I thought was very interesting was Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). In this novel Mary Turk talks about how when there are hour changes in the fall and winter it can actually change a person's mood, sleep patterns, and eating habits. She said that when a person suffers from this disorder they are actually drawn to carbohydrates in the fall and winter to fill the void of not having the pretty weather. Mary Turk has very interesting points about food and emotions that are just fascinating.

While reading this chapter of Mary Turk's novel it made me make a lot of correlations in my life to what she is talking about. Because she does talk about aspects that effect me, it gets me really interested in this topic about food and emotions. When she talks about how chocolate has been chemically proven to improve someone's mood I just thought that was so thought provoking. Because chocolate is one of my favorite foods, the author made me think about how it may effect me personally. Luckily I haven't had to experience a food addiction to the severity that I just have to have it, but it was interesting reading about how some people struggle and have to cope with the constant longing for that specific item of choice. When Mary Turk talks about SAD I never even knew that existed. I learned a lot about that disorder and how it effects individuals and their food cravings. She made really good points in her book and it got me even more interested in the topic of food correlation with emotions.

Turk, Mary. Food and Emotions. Minnesota: Capstone Press, 2001. 27-33. Print.

Food and Your Feelings

I read a very interesting chapter of a book having to deal with food and a person's feelings. In this source they state many interesting facts about how what you eat correlates with how you feel and what emotions you express. In the book Food and Emotions by Mary Turk she explains how there are three main ways food effects a person's mood. The first two reasons are medically proven. She explains how when someone consumes food, that the substance that is digested has an impact on the neurotransmitters in the brain, causing the brain to make mood-changing chemicals. The second reason deals with blood sugar levels in a person. The author explains how when someones eats certain things it causes an increase or decrease in the amount of sugar that is sent into the blood, therefore causing an increase or decrease in a person's energy level. All of this meaning that if a person eats something with a lot of sugar it causes them to be energetic. The third and last reason about how food correlates with emotions, Mary Turk explains, is that "people react to food because of its assosiations. Their mind connects food with past experiences and feelings" (Turk 6). Another interesting thing the author talked about was comfort foods. She explains how different foods may cause certain feelings. Such as she talks about chicken soup making someone feel good. But what I thought was fascinating was that it may not actually be the food that triggers the emotion, but the association with that food to a special memory. She also states that it may be a combination. The combined efforts of the food and the memory correspond to make someone feel good and comforted.

I feel that the author made good, valid points in this chapter of the book. I, myself have experienced the feeling of comfort food. I think that food has a medical and emotional impact on how someone reacts to what they eat. It was interesting to read about the influence of how food can effect your brain and blood sugar levels. I think that it is just so interesting to read and hear about the correlation between different foods and people's emotions.

Turk, Mary. Food and Emotions. Minnesota: Capstone Press, 2001. 4-11. Print.