Your Brain Type and Your Eating Style
Sep 03, 2024
Did you know that your brain has a lot to do with the way you eat?
According to Dr. Daniel Amen, there are five types of overeaters.
These five types include:
- Compulsive overeaters - always think about food (low serotonin). Compulsive overeaters are often overfocused, they worry and have trouble letting go of hurts.
- Impulsive overeaters - poor impulse control (low dopamine). Impulsive overeaters typically are inattentive, impulsive, and are easily distracted.
- Impulsive-compulsive overeaters - (low serotonin and dopamine). Impulsive-compulsive overeaters have a combination of being both overfocused and impulsive.
- Sad or emotional overeaters - associated with mood issues (low dopamine). Sad overeaters typically get the winter blues and have carbohydrate cravings. They tend to sleep a lot, have low energy and self-medicate to improve their mood.
- Anxious overeaters - associated with anxiety (low GABA). Anxious overeaters are often nervous, predict the worst, and self-medicate to find calm.
Dr. Amen states that "having more than one type is common. It just means that you need a combination of interventions."
The good news is that there is something you can do about overeating and it's specific to your brain type. The interventions can include food, exercise, stress reduction and even supplementation.
Knowing what can make your type worse and impossible to stick to a weight-loss plan is so important. Some of the concerns for each type include the following:
Compulsive overeaters have a hard time with high-protein diets. These diets tend to be "concentration diets" and help people focus. With this type of diet, the compulsive overeater tends to focus more on the things that upset them. It doesn't mean that they shouldn't eat protein, it just means they need more focus on healthy carbohydrates.
Impulsive overeaters have low dopamine, so they need to avoid things that lower their dopamine levels, like high carbohydrate diets, alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and stress.
Impulsive -Compulsive overeaters need to stay away from anything that focuses on serotonin or dopamine treatment alone. This type of overeater needs both serotonin and dopamine.
The behaviors that make sad or emotional overeaters worse is letting themselves get stuck in negative thinking patterns, isolating themselves from friends and family, and skimping on sleep.
Anxious overeaters tend to get worse when they focus on the negative in their life, or when they consume too much caffeine or other stimulating substance. Drinking alcohol can also affect this type of overeater.
Are you curious about the type of overeater you are?
Join me for the Emotional Eating Toolkit Webinar where you will understand your brain type and learn tips and techniques to help change your relationship with food.
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