Stop! Your Emotional Eating Is Affecting Your Fertility, Here's How

When stress takes over, emotional eating becomes a coping mechanism for many, but what if we tell you that it is silently affecting your fertility? Emotional eating is a common response of many people to deal with extreme stress. Many people turn to food for comfort or to cope with stressful situations. Eating processed or junk foods that contain excessive sugar, sodium, preservatives, or high calories may help ease your stress for the time being but it can negatively disrupt hormone production, resulting in imbalance.

Unhealthy eating habits and choices can cause much more harm to your body than you may realize. By Dr. Varsha Agarwal, Consultant - Fertility & IVF Specialist, Motherhood Fertility & IVF, Noida, explains, "It can lead to weight gain, insulin resistance, and hormonal imbalances that further interfere with ovulation and also menstrual regularities.



Taking too much stress for an extended period can trigger the release of cortisol, the stress hormone. When your cortisol levels are consistently high then it can disrupt the production of reproductive hormones like estrogen and progesterone. This significant imbalance of hormones can lead to conditions like PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) or irregular periods that can make conception look like a mountainous task to achieve.

" How Does Emotional Eating Impact Fertility?Hormonal imbalances: Emotional eating, especially that includes foods that are high in sugar, calories, sodium, and unhealthy fats can cause insulin resistance. High insulin levels in the body can negatively disrupt the production of reproductive hormones. This can highly affect ovulation by either making it irregular or completely stopping it altogether.

Weight fluctuations: Emotional eating can often lead to excessive weight gain that can easily lead to being overweight. Obesity is known to be linked with infertility due to the excess production of estrogen. On the other side, restrictive eating or dramatic crash diets can lead to extreme weight loss which can affect your ovulation while affecting your chances of successful conception.

Increased cortisol levels: Too much stress can trigger the release of cortisol hormones. When high for longer duration it can suppress the production of reproductive hormones like estrogen and progesterone. This unhealthy imbalance can cause irregular periods and also affect your fertility.

Risk of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): Unhealthy eating habits due to emotional eating can contribute to insulin resistance, which is a key factor in PCOS. Women who are diagnosed with PCOS are more likely to experience irregularities in their menstrual cycles, ovarian cysts, and also difficulty in conceiving even after continuous efforts due to imbalanced hormones. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Health and around the world.

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