"A study published in the journal
Appetite found that foods like chocolate make us feel less stressed for only three minutes and then the feeling completely fades," Albers says.
Stress eating also increases your stress in the long run. The stress hormone, cortisol, makes you crave sugary, fatty food. When you eat sugary treats, your blood sugar spikes and then drops causing you to be more irritable.
"The good news is that you can reduce cortisol in natural ways without any calories whatsoever—sipping black tea, exercise, yoga poses, self-massage, and soothing music," Albers says.
