Love-loss and nutrition, why heartbreak affects your appetite
by Laura Jennings
Heartbreak is universal; it is something that will touch every single person at some point in our lifetimes. There are different types of heartbreak that come from the ending of romantic relationships, the dissolution of friendships or the passing of family members. The pain from these events is something that everyone can relate to. In this article the nutritional impacts as a result of romantic heartbreak are discussed.
The Heartbreak Diet
The ‘heartbreak diet’ is used to refer to weight loss that often accompanies a breakup or divorce. The stress from heartbreak creates physiological and physical changes that can often result in a loss of appetite. Specifically, the body produces the hormone epinephrine, (also known as adrenaline) in direct response to the onset of grief. The production of this hormone triggers the body’s fight or flight response, which temporarily suppresses appetite. However, this is a short-term response to heartbreak. If stress on the body persists long-term, the reverse can also be seen, with many people reporting gaining weight following romantic loss.
Hollywood Heartbreak
The other side of the ‘heartbreak diet’ is the romantic comedy depiction of breakups, which is the image of indulging in comfort foods, such as, ice cream and chocolate. It has been shown that changes in food preferences takes place following a breakup, as a result of the stress hormone cortisol. Emotional distress has been linked to the increased consumption of processed foods that are high in saturated fats and sugar (Chao, 2017). In addition to high cortisol levels, high insulin levels and the ‘hunger hormone’ “ghrelin” have also been found to be elevated, making us biologically biased to reach for sugary snacks during heartbreak.
Apart from stress what other factors play a role in fluctuating weight and nutrition choices following a breakup?
Lack of sleep has also been found to cause hormonal imbalances in the body. Specifically reduced sleep causes the “fullness hormone” leptin to drop and the “hunger hormone”, grehlin to increase (Becutti, 2011). A Meta-analysis conducted by King’s College London found that partial sleep deprivation resulted in an extra 385 kcal per day being consumed. Going through heartbreak and having changes in daily routines can be unsettling with most individuals reporting changes to their usual sleeping pattern. Sleep has also been found to affect nutrition choices, with a preference for high sugar, high carbohydrate processed foods.
In addition to stress and sleep, alcohol consumption has also been shown to impact nutrition. When experiencing heartbreak most people tend to go out more socially and in turn consume more alcohol than they usually would whilst in a relationship. Alcohol is empty calories with no essential nutrients and similarly to stress and sleep, influences food preferences in favour of high-sugar processed foods. Alcohol is also a depressant and can exacerbate low mood as well as dehydrating the body. *It should also be noted that gender and individual differences in a person’s stress response would largely affect how they metabolize food in the weeks and months following heartbreak and the factors mentioned above (stress, sleep and alcohol) will vary in their effects from person to person.
During heartbreak, good nutrition is key. The Be Well has provided some practical nutrition tips below that you can implement to stay healthy during the transition of heartbreak:
· Limit your alcohol intake
· Drink plenty of Water
· Incorporate tryptophan rich foods, which take the form of proteins in our diet such as, oily fish, nuts, eggs etc. This will increase the levels of serotonin (the hormone responsible for stabilizing mood and feelings of wellbeing) available in the body.
· Aim for slow releasing carbohydrates, such as brown rice, quinoa and barley that will keep you energized and help to balance blood sugar.
· Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables
· Limit processed foods then tend to contain added sugar & salt. Get creative and cook from scratch.
· Get plenty of exercise
· Go for dark chocolate or cacao for something sweet. These are high in antioxidants and magnesium.
References
Stress, Cortisol and other appetite – related hormones: Prospective prediction of 6 month changes in food cravings and weight
Ariana M. Chao,Ania M. Jastreboff,Marney A. White,Carlos M. Grilo,Rajita Sinha, March 2017
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/oby.21790
Sleep and Obesity Guglielmo Beccuti & Silvana Pannain, July 2011
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3632337/
The Effects of Partial Sleep Deprivation on Energy Balance: A Systematic Review and Meta – Analysis H K Al Khatib 1, S V Harding 1, J Darzi 1, G K Pot, November 2016
About Laura Jennings
After five years working in the corporate world in luxury fashion and technology, Laura trained as a yoga teacher and joined the team at My Method, curating exciting and diverse wellbeing programmes for private clients and corporates.
Laura has a passion for holistic wellbeing and nutrition and has joined the Be Well team to support with content creation, workshop development and more. She is progressing in the world of health and wellness and is continuing her studies, starting a Masters in Nutrition at King's College London in September 2021.