Why Do People Overeat? Reasons for Overeating, Compulsive Eating

People Become Overweight for Different Reasons

The struggle with obesity is often a complex amalgamation of problems rooted as much in psychology as biology. No single human body is the same and no single person carries with them the same childhood baggage, deeply embedded neurosis and social perspective. In other words, what makes one person fat does not necessarily make another person fat. Two obese individuals may have reached a similar physical destination, but their paths could have been very different.

This is why it is so difficult to effectively combat obesity. Trading eating tips is useless to the person suffering from a thyroid condition whose body can expertly pack on extra pounds even fueled with a spare diet. Likewise, informing a severely overweight individual that they should simply cut back on the donuts could be the exact sort of emotional puncture that sends that person on an uncontrolled eating binge.

The Brain and Food

Those who have established a healthy (or at least manageable) relationship with food often have trouble understanding why others cannot control their eating, especially those who suffer terrible physical and psychological repercussions as a result of being severely overweight. Many obese individuals have a distorted relationship with food, which they feel helpless to overcome.

The body of a healthy individual is a fine-tuned machine. All communication systems are up and humming. The body is able to signal the brain when it needs more food and when it is full, fuller and really, put down the fork now! Research has shown that this same type of communication system between brain and stomach is out of whack in many obese individuals. The brains of these subjects are not able to properly decide when they are hungry or full.

The reason for the mental mix up likely has to do with deep emotional conflicts that many of the obese have with food. Basically, emotions butt in and drown out the signals that naturally regulate the body. For many people who struggle with their weight, food is both their greatest enemy and their emotional refuge. It might be easy for a healthy individual to see a cupcake, understand its caloric implications and make a logical decision to reject the unhealthy snack. For others, that same cupcake is a salve to a deep psychic wound.

Mass Marketing Promotes Overeating

In a society that constantly markets foods that have been chemically concocted to appeal to the pleasure centers of our very old school brains, many are pushed over the edge. Research has shown that excess food intake can actually change the chemical composition of the brain, causing a neurochemical dependency that is not unlike a drug addiction. Eating certain types of food can cause the release of dopamine, a chemical reward for the brain that is often associated with other pleasurable habits such as sex and drug use. For certain individuals with a predisposition toward addiction, their drug of choice can turn out to be food.

So, asking an overweight person why they can’t just put down the burger and fries is like asking an alcoholic why they don’t just buy a Diet Coke instead. Change is not easy, and relapses are very common. Losing weight for many of the obese is not just a physical battle, but also a deeply personal and emotional struggle.