Does Hoodia Work To Combat Emotional Eating?

Hi, I tend to be an emotional eater - specifically from anxiety. I’m wondering does hoodia work if you eat out of anxiety? Thanks. -Gigi

Gigi:

As a bit of an emotional eater myself, I was very curious about this when I first heard about hoodia almost two years ago now. Unfortunately, based on my research hoodia gordonii will do very little (if anything) to prevent emotional eating. Hoodia diet pills have little to no affect on emotional eating.

All hoodia gordonii has the potential to do is suppress your appetite. The problem is, emotional eaters don’t have a problem with their appetite. They have a problem eating when they are experiencing negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, anger, boredom, sadness and loneliness. Emotional eaters turn to food for comfort - consciously or unconsciously - whether they are full or not.

While hoodia diet pills aren’t the answer for the emotional eater, there are a number of things you can do to manage emotional eating. They include…

Keep A Journal
Write down what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat, how you’re feeling when you eat and how hungry you are. Do this for at least a few weeks. You’ll start to see patterns develop and you’ll be more aware of your emotional triggers for food.

Get The Junk Food Out Of The House
Emotional eaters tend to eat unhealthy, high-calorie junk foods to comfort them. Don’t keep these around the house. Instead, stock the kitchen with healthy snacks.

Exercise
Instead of heading for the refrigerator, go for a walk or jog outside or on a treadmill. Try to get on a regular exercise routine. Routine exercise will help relieve and manage stress more effectively.

Relaxation
For some, meditation and other relaxation exercises such as stretching can help manage emotions.

Get Support and/or Professional Help
Surround yourself with positive people who can offer support. If you can’t turn to your friends or family, visit and post on support message boards.

You should also consider professional help from a licensed dietitian. These professionals are trained in helping people with various eating problems. They can help uncover what the real reasons are for your emotional eating and get you on the path to healthier eating habits.

Maintain a Balanced Diet
If you’re not getting enough calories throughout the day, you’ll be more likely to give in to emotional eating because you’re not getting enough calories to meet your energy needs. Try to eat at regular times and include foods in your meals such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products and lean protein sources. By including more of these in your diet you’ll feel fuller throughout the day.

If you’re looking for additional help on what you can do to combat emotional eating, there are two resources I would encourage you to check out. The first is SparkPeople.com. It is one of the best free weight loss resources you’ll find. They have a number of forums and articles on a wide range of weight loss topics - including emotional eating.

The other resource I would highly recommend is BurnTheFatInnerCircle.com This is a private membership site that was started by Tom Venuto. He’s a “fat loss guru” and successful author of, Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle. You’ll pay $9.95/month to be a part of his program but they have literally thousands of members already. There are a number of forums, articles, audios, tools and much more available to members.

The advantage of Tom’s program over free resources is that you’ll have direct access to real weight loss experts in a number of different areas - including experts who know a thing or two about emotional eating. In fact, Tom provides a free report that outlines the five steps you can take to overcome emotional eating when you join his program. He’ll also be releasing an entire book about emotional eating soon.

I wish I could tell you hoodia is the answer to emotional eating, but it’s not. Hopefully the information I’ve provided here is enough to get you started. Best of luck to you!

Travis