Many people binge on food following a bout of stress. Being well surrounded would help avoid this bad health habit.
- 36% of French people say that stress has disrupted their life several times over the past year.
- Often, these increases in stress are accompanied by food urges.
- A new study shows that having friendly relationships attenuates this poor health association.
A new study shows that friends can protect us against stress eating.
Stress and food urges: 138 young adults included in the study
At the start of their efforts, the scientists recruited 138 young adults reflecting university demographics.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: those who received support from a best friend, those who received support from a stranger, those who received instructions to self-regulate without specific guidelines, and those were used to control the data.
The experiment took place in several stages, starting with a basic assessment of stress, hunger and emotional state. Next, participants were subjected to a stress induction task designed to elevate anxiety levels uniformly. To do this, they were subjected to a public speaking simulation, a well-documented method of inducing stress in the laboratory. After stress induction, friendly support was introduced, varying depending on group assignment. The session concluded with participants choosing servings from a range of high- and low-calorie foods.
Stress and food urges: friendship attenuates the association
The researchers then found that participants who received support from their friends reported significantly lower levels of perceived stress and chose smaller portions of high- and low-calorie foods compared to their counterparts in the other three groups. .
In the future, the researchers advocate continuing to explore the neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between friends and eating behavior. This could shed light on how the brain processes social and nutritional rewards, providing a better understanding of the psychological and neurobiological underpinnings of food drives.
“Overall, the present study elucidated the mechanisms by which social support influences stress-induced binge eating behaviors. It also provides ideas for therapeutic interventions for clinical eating disorders,” conclude the researchers.
The study, entitled “Support from a Best Friend Makes People Eat Less under Stress: Evidence from Two Experiments”, was written by Mingyue Xiao, Yijun Luo, Weiyu Zeng and Hong Chen.
36% of French people say that stress has disrupted their life on several occasions over the past year.
