Fighting fat: Emotional overeating soothes in times of stress

The scenarios are recognizable. The ice cream eaten at the end of a long and stressful day. The entire bag of potato chips that is consumed almost subconsciously in a nervous rant. The cookies that are baked and eaten alongside a "good cry."

It's not uncommon for people to console themselves emotionally with some of the more affordable and accessible creature comforts.

As the economy has declined, companies like Hershey, of chocolate fame, and Kraft, purveyors of all things cheese and Oreo, are showing first-quarter profit gains, suggesting that many are fighting fear, stress and worry with food.

Dr. Eric Plasker, a chiropractor and health and wellness author behind the book: "100 Year Lifestyle," said that often binge eating and other poor eating habits can be caused by lack of knowledge, but they are also fueled by feelings.

"Some people are trying to fill up an emotional void," Plasker said. "Whether it's unhappiness or some pain, through food it can be an addiction. Also, some people will overeat and binge eat and gain weight almost like an unconscious cushion to kind of soften the pain they may feel."

However tempting it may be to eat in periods of high emotion, Plasker said it is important to remember that "you are what you eat."

"What you eat will become part of the cells of your body," he said. "Literally, within hours, your body has used the food you eat and rebuilds your cell materials either in a healthy way or in an unhealthy way, depending on what you eat."

Plasker said one way to combat the urge to binge eat or indulge in emotional eating is by becoming more actively aware of what you are eating, and also eating quality foods, as opposed to quantity.

"The more nutrition you eat, the more you get the vitamins and nutrients you need, the less craving you have to binge," he said. "A lot of the time people are filling their body with empty calories that have no nutritional value. The healthier you eat, the less your body craves."

Jan Hogensen, a self-proclaimed "queen of emotional eating," said emotional eating also involves nostalgia and habit. She said it is learned in childhood and then carried throughout life.