Stress Impacting Your Eating Habits? Latina Dietitians Share What to Do!
Written by Isabel Vasquez Larson RD, LDN
Stress feels like an understatement for what our country and our Latine community is going through right now.
Juggling work, familia, and chores can be stressful enough, but the rise in systemic violence against our community takes daily stress to a whole new level.
If you’re noticing stress impacting your eating habits, you’re not alone. Whether you find yourself incessantly snacking, skipping meals, ordering out more, or all of the above, this isn’t a personal failure.
So many of our clients face the same challenges, and we love getting to support them in building more self-compassion and self-care practices—nutrition being one of those.
Here, we’re sharing common ways stress impacts eating habits and tips from our team of Latina dietitians for what to do about it.
How Stress Affects Your Eating Habits
Acute Stress Can Stunt Appetite
When you’re acutely stressed, your body releases the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline. These hormones typically suppress appetite, per a 2018 study in Cureus. After all, eating isn’t a priority when you’re facing a predator.
The issue is that this happens whether you’re facing a predator or you’re simply experiencing a spike in stress from a testy email or a reckless driver.
Chronic Stress Can Increase Appetite
When stress becomes chronic, cortisol takes the front seat. This hormone typically increases appetite, according to a 2018 study in Cureus.
This is when you’re more likely to find yourself ‘stress eating’ or using food for comfort, despite feeling physically full. You may end up grazing and craving more sweets, fried foods, or high-carb foods.
Stress Hinders Connection to Hunger and Fullness
Stress can also hinder you from connecting to your body. Oftentimes, you may go about your day fully in your head and disconnected from your body.
You may be busy planning for the day ahead, coordinating your family’s schedules, or focusing on work. Unfortunately, this can hinder you from recognizing signs of hunger until you’re ravenous.
When you get to that extreme level of hunger, it’s much more likely you’ll feel out of control when you eat next or crave energy-dense, sweet foods. We see it happen all the time for our clients!
Stress May Deter You From Cooking
When you have a million things on your metaphorical plate, cooking might be the last thing you want to do. You may find yourself ordering takeout more and/or skipping meals.
It can feel like you’re always trying to catch up on your nutrition needs rather than proactively nourishing your body. Nutrition often takes a backseat.
Signs Stress Is Driving Your Food Choices
Unsure if stress is really driving your eating? Here are some signs that your eating habits may be influenced by stress:
Frequently eating when you’re not physically hungry
Feeling guilt or shame after eating
Relying on caffeine or sugar to get through the day
Ignoring hunger until you’re “hangry”
Using food as a primary emotional coping tool
Ordering takeout more than usual
Skipping meals
Binge eating
Obsessing over ‘healthy eating’, calories, or macros
What Latina Dietitians Recommend Instead
Be Curious and Compassionate Towards Yourself
It’s easy to get caught up in guilt or self-blame if stress is impacting your eating habits, but this will only worsen your relationship with food. “
Stress eating doesn’t mean you have a lack of willpower. It can be a signal that you could use more self-care and stress-relief.
Be curious about how (or if) your eating is serving you. “When my clients notice their eating habits shift because of stress, I like to ask whether the food they're craving is actually helping them feel calmer or better,” says Maria Castro, RD. The same question applies if your eating becomes more restrictive in times of stress.
Try not to approach this inquiry with judgment. Instead, approach it with genuine curiosity.
“I also like to explain that stress is your body's way of communicating. With time and practice we have to be curious about what's causing stress and what the body is asking for because of the stress—energy, rest, movement, etc,” says Zariel Grullón, RDN, CDN.
This approach invites a greater connection with your body. You become your body’s loving caretaker instead of its biggest critic.
Embrace Convenient, Comforting Meals
Whether stress leads you to eat more comfort foods or neglect to eat entirely, easy meals can help. Lean into foods you typically enjoy to keep yourself nourished and energized. Think arroz con habichuelas, caldo de res, or chicken tinga.
Missing out on this regular nutrition can worsen your mood and mental health, making stress harder to cope with, so Mitzi de Maa, RD, LDN recommends “lowering the bar”, so to speak, and eating something safe, accessible, and convenient at least every 3–4 hours.
“Embrace the ‘fed is best’ mentality and run with it while lowering the pressure to eat ‘perfectly balanced’. We understand that stress can impact our food choices, and that’s normal,” says de Maa.
“What I like to explain to my clients is that stress can change your body's need for energy so we want to meet that need by ensuring we are able to provide energy that is quick for those cravings, but also slow so it's longer lasting and sustainable,” adds Grullón.
Looking for ideas? Check out this article on What to Eat When You Don't Know What to Eat: 60 meal ideas or this list of 10 Hispanic Snacks, Recommended by Latina Dietitians.
Experiment With Other Stress-Reducers
“Often, we reach for food as a coping mechanism out of habit, before we've named what we really need in that moment,” says Castro. So pause and notice what it is you really need. Comfort? Pleasure? Community? Nourishment?
“If food doesn't meet that need, I'll ask my clients to try a non-food option first—like calling a friend, voice journaling (leaving themselves a voice note), or doing a few somatic stretches,” says Castro. “If they still want the food afterward, then we include it,” she adds.
That pause can make all the difference in your relationship with food and yourself. “That small pause reduces guilt and builds trust because the choice becomes intentional rather than automatic,” says Castro.
When to Get Extra Support
If you notice stress influencing your eating habits, particularly in a way that’s harming your mental or physical health, consider working with a registered dietitian for support.
Rest assured, experiencing high levels of stress doesn’t mean you can’t work on nutrition. Our team of Latina registered dietitians supports clients in improving blood sugars, cholesterol levels, GI issues, and more while navigating the real-life impacts of stress.
We meet our clients where they’re at to make realistic, health-promoting changes that don’t require a complete overhaul of their eating habits. Click here to learn more about working with us.
Final Thoughts
If stress is messing with your eating habits, you’re not a failure. Hormonal changes from stress can stunt your appetite or ramp it up, leading you to skip meals entirely or stress eat.
If you notice that happening, Latina dietitians recommend approaching yourself with curiosity and compassion first. Get curious about what your needs are and if your eating habits are meeting them or not.
Also, embrace convenient meals you genuinely enjoy to stay nourished, and experiment with other stress-relievers that may help more than food.
For more education on how to ADD nutrition to your favorite Latine cultural dishes, make peace with food, and focus on your health without dieting, join our nutrition library for just $27/month.
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