When stressed we eat more. This is kind of intuitive. The ole "Ben & Jerrys" pint after a break up or getting plastered after getting fired. We eat and drink in excess because of stressors. Now we don't always have control over the external stressors in our life but we do have control over how we respond. In as little as 60 seconds you can drastically improve your relationship with food and actually even eat less. There are known ways to turn reduce stress including yoga, cold plunges, acupuncture, and meditation but we don't always have the time to do these before every meal. Enter a quick breathing technique that had been shown to reduce consumption.
The 4-7-8 Technique.
Breathe in for four seconds filling your entire lungs. Hold for seven seconds. And then slowly release your entire breath over the course of eight seconds. The key part that most people miss is the sound. You want an almost "sea-shell" sounding noise on your in-breath and out-breath. Sound is what is stimulating your vagus nerve and shifting your nervous system from sympathetic (fight or flight) to parasympatheic (rest and digest) response.
Try this three times and then dig in. We often bring our whole day with us to the dinner table. We then use food as the tool to quiet our emotions. A tool to distract us from whatever it is we are feeling. If you do technique before each meal you will eat less. And even if you eat the same amount your digestion process will more efficient because you will be in your parasympathetic response(rest and digest). When you are in "fight or flight" all your energy(think blood) is sent to your limbs to be able to run from the perceived threat. This takes blood/energy away from your internal organs and shuts down proper digestion. In crunch time, it is more important to be able to run from a predator than to digest your last meal.
Normal digestion stops when we are stressed.
When you are stressed and eating the quality of your digestion goes down. If you are not digesting food properly you get less nutrients from your food. Lack of nutrients makes your body crave more food. So a few quick breathes before a meal can reduce not only how much you consume in the present meal but also affect food cravings down the line.
You can do this technique whenever you feel stressed but a good way to make is a habit quickly is to associate the technique with a trigger (i.e. meal).
-Dylan
