http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/100/20/11696

November 18, 2003
NUTRITION NEWS FOCUS
"Nutrition news is important.  We help you understand it!"

Today's Topic: Why Do We Eat So Much?

A new study reports we eat comfort foods to relieve chronic stress and
subsequently get fat.  At least that's what the newspapers said.  The
scientific article actually said that is how some rats behaved after
they had their adrenal glands surgically removed and were treated with
different levels of corticosteroid hormones.  Eating high fat and
sugar actually caused the rats to produce more of a stress hormone
releaser in their brains.  The study appeared in the September 30,
2003 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.
It is becoming more and more obvious that simply presenting the facts
about not overeating is not stimulating any of us to lose weight.  Bob
Condor or the Chicago Tribune pointed out on September 21, 2003 that
food is a stress reliever for many of us.  No amount of nutrition
knowledge will affect that.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: If rats can eat to relieve
stress, so can you.  But that is a sure way of defeating your diet.
Other stress relieving activities must be substituted so you can get
back to eating normal-size portions.  Similarly, eating slower is a
way of both de-stressing and reducing total food intake.