How to Manage "Stress Eating" & Compulsive Eating | Dr. Elissa Epel & Dr. Andrew Huberman

Thank you for removing sodas from the hospital campus!! Elissa, you are refreshing me to hear a doctor do what is right. And then to further work with the people who needed more social support shows a great depth of love and connection.

You inspire me to see how i can work with others in a new way. Thank you, both, for having a logical conversation about food and eating.

Weird, i eat very unhealthy for years especially when stressed. Instead of gaining weight i actually lost weight. I am closer to underweight then overweight despite eating junk food and too many calories.

HOW TO FIX THIS IN 1 WEEK - Hi anyone who's struggling with this. I'm the 1 in 5 - I have this constant hunger but I'm able to stay slim (my BMI is 21). Here are my strategies: When I've been binging for a few weeks or even months, with uncontrollable hunger, I start where I am. I think about (or write down) what im eating, just the meal / snack, how frequently I'm eating. Usually at my worst it'll be pretty constant, every half hour or hour. So then I search youtube for "destress tolerance skills". It usually comes up with strategies, distraction, stiting with your emotions, havign a walk, a hot bath, light a candle etc, workout. Distractions. So then I make a note of the techniques I wanna use, and then on Day 1 of Binge Recovery I start by eating how frequently I was, allowing myself to eat whatever foods i want but not more than 1 bowl/plate etc. At my worst, this is usually every half hour or every hour. So i eat something every hour or half hour, just somethnig small. I try and make some of these proper meals/snacks, and some what i call 'low calorie fillers', so things like cucumber sticks, diet soda etc. if I can do thata nd cope with not eating for a bit longer. And then in the time in between my next meal/snacks, where im stressed and feeling very tense and thinking about food constantly, I use the distress tolerance skills i chose (10 minute workout, walk listening to my favourite songs, doom scrolling) and tell myself its just e.g. 20 more minutes till i can eat again, i can do it. And then on Day 2, I space the meals/snacks out to every hour. Then on Day 3 every 1-2hrs as I need. At this point i real;ly start trying to increase the nutritional value of the food, so less junk annd more healthy foods. Then by day 3, I notice im getting better at sitting with my emotions, recognising when im hungry vs stressed. I tell myself 'im anxious' rather than thinking 'im hungry'. Your thoughts become real, they have power. Then by day 5 I can go 2-3hrs without eating, or if im very focused on my work i go every 3-4hrs. By day 6, im no longer thinking constantly about food and i feel much better, stomach has shrunk and im feeling good about myself. Sometimes I have a coffee or tea at the end of my meal - I sytart to assocatiate that coffee with ending eating, so it starts making me not hungry (this is classical conditioning, you can train your brain to associate certain things with not feeling hungry). The workouts i do you can find by just searching youtube e.g. '10 minute beginner abs workout' or whatever body part you feel like. Also check out 'The Binge Eating Therapist' on youtube, her strategies have helped me when nothing else worked. She talks about coming to terms with the grief of ending a meal when you want more, accepting that you want to eat more but dont have to act on that impulse. Let me know if this helps anyone! Im on day 3 of my current recovery right now.

Dr. Epel is spot on about stress eating. The vicious cycle of UPF + stress + more UPF is brutal. Breaking the processed food habit literally changes your stress response over time.

when they say soda, do they mean zero sugar soda too?

how to manage= just dont do it.. thanks

I’m going to be very honest my family has a history of androgenetic alopecia (the women do) and because of that they loose hair, my sister already has a lot of hairloss she’s 23 years old so o went online and it turned out that mostly happens due to high insulin levels and so I stopped eating carbs at all and now I have a bad binge eating disorder, I really fear carbs and high insulin levels. I need help

Best solution to avoid relapse and to stay in shape, feel satiated with no guilt not to mention having something joyful to look forward to is by doing OMAD at dinner time. I can easily have 1200 or so calories in one go. It’s surprising that the next day my tummy shrink and I feel skinnier lol. All I do everyday is literally waiting for dinner 😂!

11:10 maybe a cold shower?

I've ALWAYS loved food... Always piling my plate up and overeating... It's gotten worse after the loss of my mother 3/11/25.... Food is the ONLY thing that seems to make me happy temporarily... I decided to do a 3 day water fast with my church and today is the first day. I hope to gain spiritual strength and self control... I also want to be healthier and lose weight.

Whoever might be reading this, I pray you encounter the love of God today. Jesus saves us because we can do nothing to save ourselves 🤍🤍 Trust in Him

Try tapping your forehead with your fingertips for 30 seconds, it disrupts the frontal lobe from focusing on food as a solution to how you feel

I'm overeating right now as im watching 😢😢

Just got back from my daily GENTLE JOG. My cat went with me around my little area, in the STORM. After
40 yrs, I started to jog again every day, 1 - 3 times a day. I use outside air with walking/jogging to deal with ALL
of my emotions. This calmly energizes me. We are emotional spiritual creatures having a human experience.
ADDICTIONS of any kind depress me. 37 yrs off of cigs and 24 yrs off alcohol now. Sugar is a slippery slope
that I work at every day. I do not diet. I eat what I want. I listen to my body.


I speak now from my everyday observations about living here in the USA. FOOD is a huge TOPIC here
in America, especially today, with the government shutdown/Snap situation. We all have to eat, period.



Something that not everyone in America is talking about is how EXTREME our OBESITY situation is.

When Trump took office, I knew that he wanted as many Americans to get working and be as healthy

as possible. He stays away from becoming obese.



RFK Jr. was hired for health/food improvements. If you look at many of our politicians, few of them

are OBESE. I believe they don't want to see so many of their fellow Americans being obese.



Every day, I have to work at NOT eating too much junk food. Honestly, I could easily be seriously obese, if

I ate everything I like to eat. NUTRITION is a very INTERESTING SUBJECT to study. We are ALL STUDENTS

in this LIFE.



I eat to LIVE, not LIVE to eat. Processed foods have

become a big NO NO for me as they cause knee/joint inflammations and more. I do eat some canned

foods that have minimal processing. We are INFLUENCED by WHAT we EAT. I DO NOT fantasize about

recipes for this and that yummy desert foods, lol. SOME FOODS, like alcohol and smoking, can be very

addictive. SUGAR is a SLIPPERY SLOPE for sure.



I see so many people (on buses and elsewhere) really struggling to simply MOVE their bodies.



I'm a people watcher, including watching myself. I would say that about 30 out of 40 people are

really overweight/obese. Not just a little chubby but seriously packing too much extra weight.



Some SNAP recipients genuinely need the help. During my own lean times I have accepted much-appreciated

emergency food help. I like to work and make $$ and BE HEALTHY.



Grocery shopping can be GRUELING with all of the toxic foods/drinks in them. Cereals, alcohols and all

of the DESSERTS/BAKED SWEETS. Eating healthy is a daily job.



So, this my today's observation!! Thanks for reading if you have read this :)!

This woman knows nothing or sounds like she knows nothing about eating disorders. Many people eat to self soothe and it has nothing to do with fats or sugars, they eat all food groups and they don't eat because they have a disproportionate sense of hunger, quite the opposite. It's an addiction. Much like drinking alcohol.

An ad every 2 min FFS

When you learn more from the comment section than from the video itself.

Not helpful listening to how Dr Huberman doesn’t eat when he is stressed, oooook good for you …

How do you explain it when you never feel hungry but having a constant urge to eat?

Seed oils and sugar

Thank you so much. I feel seen and understood ❤

I've been training and dieting for 2 years and I've studied every behavioral problem with food and bad habits that ive had, and somehow I've managed to completely change myself. But times like the ones I'm having now are making me forget everything I've worked for, and return to binge eating as a coping mechanism. All the love in the world to the people that struggle with this.

2025 I have 3 toddlers and 6m old constant crying, constant mess, constant complaining and I’m single even though I have a partner.

she is into you though, anybody else notice?

I don't know if this is just me, but I doubt I'm alone in this. When in a high level of stress, I lose my appetite and would have to force myself to eat something, anything. That doesn't happen very often. However, when in a lower level of stress, which happens far more frequently, I want to eat. And eat. So I don't think this is an either/or, at least not for everyone.

Listen to Dr. Furhrmans video talk. "Understanding and Resolving Food Addiction and Emotional Over Eating by Joel Fuhrman, M.D." DRUGS ARE NOT THE ANSWER"

For the both responses you talked about. I feel both exists in me. When I have work stress or overload and I can focus and think clearly- I don't eat much. Whereas when I have an emotional turmoil or issue with relationship the tendency of eating is more. Or when I am unable to focus or think clearly. Overeating occurs after pulling sleep deprived when I have brain fog and don't think clearly. When cognitive function is effected, my body craves food. When mind is able to focus and think clearly then I skip food (rather I wood say FORGETS food).

I stress eat icecream specifically.

❤❤❤

This is extremely helpful. Thank you for mentioning Naltrexone as an option for help.

for me it is differnt - i am studying computer engineering an the ONLY time i HAVE to eat is when about to start a WHOLE NEW super complicated chapter with soooo much scary math its VERY hard to sit thru a very complex module without havin literlay ANYTHING to chew on - i literlay try to get somethign that has alot of THINGS like bag of chips or pringles or popcorn - and as it gets LOW i literlay have my anxiety increase knoiwin its comin to an end - however if i am not studyin or at the computer i never have to eat at all and i hit the gym hard buts its to get me to sit down and work beyond 7 hours is where it gets bvery hard

6:11

Drugs are temporary. They don't last and they have tons of side effects. I want someone who can interact with me on a regular basis, and who understands personally, what people like me have went through and are going through, what we experience

Thank you for clarifying what “sympathetic eating” means because right away I thought it had to do with being sympathetic 🙈

So in the first 3 minutes they've made it clear that neither of them could truly understand stress eating because neither of them do it...great

amazing!

Same old preachy stuff that doesn’t work after a day or two.

None of this relates to my personal issue with binging. I've treated every meal for my entire life as if it were my last. Finishing extremely fast, going for 2nds, 3rds with no feeling of fullness. No one saw an issue because I was skinny. I was always under 100lbs until my 2nd child was born, and at 26, thermodynamics finally decided to play a role in my bodily functions. Now, I find it so difficult to stop a behavior I have always done. I did experience neglect and food insecurities before age 5, which I believe was the trigger for my decades long BED. Adhd meds have alleviated daily occurrences, but it's still up to 2x a week where I almost black out and eat the whole house.

just ate a pack of pringles and fied an ate nuggets. now watching this drenched in guilt. im sure the upcoming college interviews doesnt help either.

Sometimes its like.. how a smoker feels craving for a cigarette.

When Im so stressed out, and regular and healthy food doesn't sound good. But then I think "oh. Those pizza combos in the work vending machine sound good, ahh, but im not hungry. I don't need them."
And then I just think about those pizza combos and feel my anxiety raising even more until I cave in and go get them.

Thank you for this, I learned alot and will start to have a healthy eating habit.

If you want manage stress be around good hearted people. Stay away from toxic energy vampires.