99. How We Hurt Ourselves, Mind, and Body When We Use Food to Soothe

Why soothe your hunger with highly palatable foods that harm your mind and your body when you can turn that hunger into an opportunity to address your unmet needs?

Dr. Adrienne Youdim is a board-certified Internist and is the host of the podcast Health Bite. She specializes in medical weight loss and nutrition, and she is aiming to transform the weight loss narrative into one that is both empowering and compassionate – inspiring people to live more physically and emotionally fulfilling lives through evidence-based strategies that actually show results.

Through her podcast, Dr. Adrienne debunks all myths in the current weight loss culture and supports people in living the life they deserve as they work on becoming the best version of themselves.

In this episode, Dr. Adrienne enumerates reasons why soothing with food – especially yummy, highly palatable foods – is not good and healthy for our mind, our health, and our body. Here, she explains how our hunger is an opportunity to recognize what we truly need.

What you will learn from this episode:

• Find out how food and emotion are hardwired in our physiology;
• Understand why using food to soothe is a maladaptive practice; and
• Discover the reason why you should not soothe your hunger, especially with food

“Don’t soothe your hunger with food… but more importantly, do not soothe your hunger because your hunger is a gift. It's an invitation to open up to what you need, and an opportunity to fulfill that need. And my friends, that is powerful.”

– Dr. Adrienne Youdim


Key Takeaways:

“When we come to terms with the trigger, as I like to say, the hunger that motivates us to soothe, then not only are we able to choose a different path, but more importantly, we can use our hunger to identify our needs, to learn what that desire for food is signaling, and as a result, to fulfill that need for ourselves.” – Dr. Adrienne Youdim

“There is no shame. This is about understanding; understanding why we do things we do so that we can do better for ourselves.” – Dr. Adrienne Youdim

“What's good for the body is good for the mind, and what's good for the mind is good for our bodies. And when we use food to soothe, we hurt ourselves – mind and body.” – Dr. Adrienne Youdim

Ways to Connect with Dr. Adrienne Youdim:

• Email: dr@dradrienneyoudim.com 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dradrienneyoudim/ 
• Website: https://www.dradrienneyoudim.com 

If you're looking for more compassionate mindset hacks around your relationship with your body and your weight, I really encourage you to check out my book, Hungry for More: Stories and Science to Inspire Weight loss from the Inside Out on my website, www.dradrienneyoudim.com. I know that this book is resonating.

Thank you to all of those who have read it, shared it, and messaged me about it. If you are one of those people, DM me on Instagram, @dradrienneyoudim. I love hearing your stories, but I know that this book resonates because the stories are universal. 

And so I hope you use those stories to have a little bit more compassionate kindness towards yourself and to use them as an engine for positive change.

How We Can Support Adrienne—and Each Other

Our community’s love and presence are powerful. Here’s how you can become a catalyst for this shared journey of transformation:

1. Share Your Voice with an Honest Review on Apple Podcasts. Your thoughtful reviews help spread Adrienne’s message to those who need it most. Take a moment to leave a genuine review and strengthen our community together. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/health-bite/id1504295718  
2. Stay connected by following Health Bite on Spotify. Share your reflections in the comments and join the conversation. Your experiences and insights add richness to our collective growth. Follow and comment on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2jwdHPnWJaoBs2ZJe0nnP6 
3. Send #LoveNotes and Reach Out on Instagram. Let Adrienne know you’re walking this path with her by sending a #LoveNote or a direct message on Instagram. Your encouragement fuels her journey and fosters the connection that makes this community thrive. Adrienne’s Instagram handle here: https://www.instagram.com/dradrienneyoudim/  

Together, we’re creating a space where vulnerability is met with support, and transformation is celebrated as a courageous act. 

Transcript

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How we Hurt Ourselves, Mind, and Body when we use food to soothe

Dr. Adrienne Youdim

You've joined me on a very special episode. This is the 100th. I really want to thank you for your listenership. It has taken trial and error for me to find my voice and my rhythm – and of course, I still have room to grow – but I am so proud of how far we have come. 

Health Bite has ranked as one of the top 5% globally listened-to podcasts of nearly three (3) million podcasts worldwide. More importantly, it's speaking to you, and I want to tell you how much I love and appreciate those of you who've taken the time to message me via Instagram and email to tell me how you've been affected by the podcast. So, thank you. And to the rest of you, feel free to send me love notes as well; I just love that.

THE 100TH: “THERE IS NO SHAME. THIS IS ABOUT UNDERSTANDING WHY WE DO THINGS WE DO SO THAT WE CAN DO BETTER FOR OURSELVES.”

Dr. Adrienne Youdim

So, this is the hundredth, and a perfect time for this episode in which I want to share my passion, which is to help people understand why we use food to soothe and why we should stop.

When we come to terms with the trigger, as I like to say, the hunger that motivates us to soothe, then not only are we able to choose a different path, but more importantly, we can use our hunger to identify our needs, to learn what that desire for food is signaling, and as a result, to fulfill that need for ourselves.

And I want to start with this – there is no shame. This is about understanding; understanding why we do the things we do so that we can do better for ourselves.

INGRAINED IN ME: TALKING ABOUT THE LOVE HORMONE, OXYTOCIN, AND HOW FOOD AND EMOTION ARE HARDWIRED IN OUR PHYSIOLOGY

So, let's just start by saying that we use food to soothe. We have all done it at some point, and there's no shame about it. The co-mingling of food and emotion is hardwired in our physiology. That is to say, we are programmed for it.

Let's think back to when it all started, when we were infants. Our cry as a newborn caused a surge of oxytocin in our mother's bodies, which prompted the production of milk. Oxytocin, then, is the hormone that allows for milk production so that a child is fed. That same hormone surges in both mother and child, and helps foster that feeling of connection, bonding, and love between them.

Fast forward to the present day. That same hormone, oxytocin, also called the love hormone, is released when we hold our partner’s hand, when we hug our bestie, and when we pet our cute little pup. It’s what gives us those lovey dovey feelings.

So, food and emotion are hardwired in our physiology and wound up together in our bodies and in our psyche.

Let's also talk about what happens to our brains when we eat yummy foods. Yummy foods feel good in the short term; more on that in a minute. But when we eat highly palatable, yummy foods, we get a dopamine hit, which gives us a feeling of pleasure and reward. And here's the kicker – when we feel a desire to eat but don't, serotonin levels drop and we actually feel dysphoric, meaning more sad and depressed.

WHY USING FOOD TO SOOTHE IS MALADAPTIVE: 1) THE DOPAMINE HIT IS TEMPORARY

So to some, they may take it to mean that it's okay then to use food to soothe. If it's hardwired in our physiology, if it makes us feel good, if we feel dysphoric if we don't do it, then why shouldn't we use food to soothe, right?

Wrong; because using food to soothe is maladaptive, and here's why.

Number one, the dopamine hit is temporary. The feel-good surge of dopamine is short-lived, and so we're prompted to consume again and again to regain that feeling of pleasure. The pleasure is temporary, and therefore, it's deceptive, and in the long run, its ineffective.

WHY USING FOOD TO SOOTHE IS MALADAPTIVE: 2) WE BUILD TOLERANCE

Number two, we build tolerance. Over time, when we consume these palatable foods, we downregulate our dopamine receptors, meaning that we require more of the thing to get the reward or the emotional payoff. In addition to that, our baseline or normal levels of dopamine drop over time so that our normal sense of pleasure is decreased. So, we end up feeling worse than we did before we even started.

In fact, studies have shown that consuming foods that give us this kind of emotional payoff – sugary foods, processed fried foods, baked goods – are associated with a higher incidence of depression and anxiety in the long run.

The corollary to that or the converse to that is that a diet high in fruits and vegetables, for example, is actually associated with better mood; also associated with more clarity, focus, creativity, and cognition.

WHY USING FOOD TO SOOTHE IS MALADAPTIVE: 3) NOT ONLY ARE WE HURTING OUR MINDS THEN, BUT ALSO OUR BODIES

Number three, not only are we hurting our minds then, but also, of course, our bodies. And this doesn't come as a surprise, right? We all know that eating for reasons other than hunger, especially eating those yummy, palatable foods on the regular can cause weight gain and weight gain can cause health problems, obviously.

But the take home is that what's good for the body is good for the mind, and what's good for the mind is good for our bodies. And when we use food to soothe, we hurt ourselves – mind and body.

WHY USING FOOD TO SOOTHE IS MALADAPTIVE: 4) IT DOESN’T EVEN SCRATCH THE ITCH

Number four, it doesn't even scratch the itch; meaning, we're using food to soothe some discomfort, anger, frustration, sadness, boredom, and it doesn't even scratch the itch. After that temporary distraction, we're left feeling whatever we were feeling to begin with; nothing has changed.

But here's the kicker – when we use food to soothe our emotional or spiritual hunger, we miss out on a huge opportunity. What if we sat with our hunger? With the trigger, with that emotional discomfort that is wanting and needing soothing? What if we took the time to ask what is it telling us?

For example, are you engaged in your relationships or are you distracted and not present for the people that you love? Have you surrounded yourself by people who support you, care for you, nourish you, or are you in toxic or disconnected relationships that leave you hungry for more? Are you fulfilled and inspired by your work, or are you committed to a job that lacks potential; one that fails to see your strengths or your ability to use those strengths to serve yourself and those around you? Are you lacking purpose and meaning and are left hungry for more?

What about time for yourself? Are you taking time to care for yourself, or do you consistently prioritize other people and other things over your own self-care? Do you even see yourself worthy of the time and attention required for that care? Because self-neglect – that elicits hunger, too.

When you take time to sit with your discomfort, to question it, to question what unmet need it represents, you offer yourself an opportunity; an opportunity to figure out what you really need and to see if you're fulfilling those needs, and if not, the opportunity to try.

TODAY’S HEALTH BITE: “DON’T SOOTHE YOUR HUNGER WITH FOOD”

So, I want to leave you with this. Don’t soothe your hunger with food; not only because it's not good for you, not only because it doesn't serve you, not only because it hurts you, mind and body, not only because it doesn't even scratch the itch. But more importantly, do not soothe your hunger because your hunger is a gift. It's an invitation to open up to what you need, and an opportunity to fulfill that need. And my friends, that is powerful.

So, that's all for this week. As always, I want to thank you for your time, for spending some of your precious time with me. If this message resonated with you, I encourage you to check out my book, “Hungry For More: Stories and Science to Inspire Weight Loss from the Inside Out”. It is filled with – as the title suggests – stories and science to help you understand your underlying hunger; and in doing so, to live a life that is more fulfilling, inspiring, and filled with joy.

I hope you have a great week and I look forward to seeing you again right here next week on Health Bite. Until then.