Lethargy, lethargy, depression, and the desire to seize stress on snacks are not just signs that you are in a bad mood. If you have recently begun to notice this behavior in yourself, then perhaps you have a winter food addiction. You have to do something about this.
Food is an important part of any person’s life. Without it, our body cannot fully function – we become less energetic. However, an excess of food has an equally detrimental effect. At the very least, it’s overweight. As a maximum – food addiction. Now attention: As winter approaches, the risk of becoming addicted to food increases.
Russian scientists from different universities have teamed up to conduct research as part of a comprehensive, interdisciplinary project that aims to address eating behavior problems. Using the so-called “Yale scale” (special test), they interviewed more than two thousand people and compared the results with similar results in other countries. The conclusion turned out to be predictable: in winter, Russians are more susceptible to food addiction than at any other time of the year. This is especially true for young people 17-18 years old (eat whatever) and people who go to bed late.
“We have carried out a comprehensive assessment of eating behavior, sleep-wakefulness and well-being of students and schoolchildren living in Syktyvkar, Kirov, Yekaterinburg and Tyumen. The results obtained can be extrapolated to the entire young urban population of Russia, ”said Mikhail Borisenkov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Physiology of Komi.
Such changes in eating behavior depending on the season and the effect of sleep and wakefulness indicate that a person is greatly influenced by short daylight hours. This was confirmed by Mariyat Mukhina, an expert nutritionist, with whom Healthy Food Near Me spoke to in order to learn more about this addiction.
Doctor of Medical Sciences, nutritionist, neurologist, therapist, founder of the federal clinic “ORIGITEA”
Mariyat noted that winter food addiction is a frequent phenomenon. The need for excessive consumption of food is not due to the physical level due to the feeling of hunger, but on the psychological level. With the onset of the first frosts, the stimulation of the endocrine glands is activated, which requires the consumption of essential body substances.
It is in the autumn-winter period that this very food addiction is revealed, because of which people try to seize up experiences, stresses and make up for the lack of heat and useful elements in the body.
The doctor of medical sciences believes that the reason for this behavior is the depletion of the triple heater meridian – that is, a decrease in energy in this zone. To make it clearer, let’s explain: a triple heater is one of the channels in which vital energy flows, it begins at the tip of the ring finger and passes over the shoulder into the chest cavity.
In other words, in the cold season, low temperatures negatively affect the internal processes of the body. “Winter food addiction” is associated with the restructuring of metabolism. People react to this by increasing their appetite – everything in the environment suggests that it is necessary to store up energy and go into “hibernation”. Therefore, hot rich soups, hearty warm salads and the most high-calorie sweets are used.
Mariyat also spoke about the consequences of food addiction: “Lack of light factor, vitamin D3, provokes the onset of a depressive state, and the mental and emotional flow reduces the positive character. To replenish lost energy, people begin to overeat and become addicted to food. Such uncontrolled eating depletes the adrenal glands. In addition, a person’s taste buds are disrupted, the production of insulin destroys the pancreas, and in the worst case, it can provoke the onset of diabetes or obesity, which adversely affects the work of the heart and blood vessels. There is also apathy, drowsiness, lethargy and a pre-depressive state, which have a bad effect not only on the work of the body, but also on the psychological background of a person. “
However, food addiction may not always cause discomfort and harm to the body. If you don’t start to feel worse, then just wait for spring. The addiction will disappear by itself when the sun starts to warm and the lack of vitamin D is filled.
If you feel unwell and understand that you have problems, do not self-medicate, but contact a specialist. After the doctor determines the reason for the excessive consumption of food in the cold season, a comprehensive diet is prescribed, which normalizes the work of both the body and the emotional background.
To readers of Healthy Food Near Me, Mariyat Mukhina advises one life hack – to massage biological points that help reduce appetite, remove a nervous breakdown and relax the body.
For example, one of the points for reducing appetite is under the earlobe at the top of the lower jaw. You need to put your fingers on both sides of it and open and close your mouth. But the point from stress and anxiety is located on the forehead, between the eyebrows. Place your thumb or forefinger there, press (just not hard) and massage in a circular motion for 5-10 minutes.