How come stress inhibit appetite in some and stimulate it in others??

[Peater503]

Whenever I encounter stressful situations, my appetite goes to absolutely nothing, and I completely lose the desire to eat. I just use all my time and energy to think about the situation (why it happened, how to effectively solve it, how to avoid next time, etc.). Sometimes I even skip dinner after a stressful day at work because I have no appetite whatsoever from the stress, so I just go to sleep and have a big breakfast the next morning.

Naturally, having been like this all my life, I am now quite a bit underweight for my height and age as an adult. But I realized, not everyone responds to stress like me when it comes to appetite. I know plenty of people who get massive appetite boosts from stress and who resort to eating in large amounts to cope with stress. Actually, now that I think about it, I have never met another person who has their appetite inhibited by stress at all, it's always stimulation.

I have tried thinking about it, but I just can't put my finger on it. Why does stress make most people more hungry but me less?

 

[xeliex]

It might have to do with the magnitude of one's stress' responsiveness maybe. For instance, when I stress, I eat like a mofo! When I stress to an extraordinary extent, I lose my appetite. When I drink coffee on empty, I lose my appetite.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Whenever I encounter stressful situations, my appetite goes to absolutely nothing, and I completely lose the desire to eat. I just use all my time and energy to think about the situation (why it happened, how to effectively solve it, how to avoid next time, etc.). Sometimes I even skip dinner after a stressful day at work because I have no appetite whatsoever from the stress, so I just go to sleep and have a big breakfast the next morning.

Naturally, having been like this all my life, I am now quite a bit underweight for my height and age as an adult. But I realized, not everyone responds to stress like me when it comes to appetite. I know plenty of people who get massive appetite boosts from stress and who resort to eating in large amounts to cope with stress. Actually, now that I think about it, I have never met another person who has their appetite inhibited by stress at all, it's always stimulation.

I have tried thinking about it, but I just can't put my finger on it. Why does stress make most people more hungry but me less?

I am the same way, when I stress I don’t eat. Thinking about your question, I am thinking that there are emotional attachments to food for some that I don’t have. I think the people that have those emotional attachments to food probably struggle with their weight anyway. It seems the cravings for them is mostly sweet foods, which may be an instinctive way of soothing and bringing their cortisol levels down. I eat for necessity, and enjoyment secondarily, and don’t really care much for sugary sweet things.

 

[Peater503]

It might have to do with the magnitude of one's stress' responsiveness maybe. For instance, when I stress, I eat like a mofo! When I stress to an extraordinary extent, I lose my appetite. When I drink coffee on empty, I lose my appetite.

I see. The thing is, with me it's always appetite to zero, whether it's small or large stress... :/

 

[Peater503]

I am the same way, when I stress I don’t eat. Thinking about your question, I am thinking that there are emotional attachments to food for some that I don’t have. I think the people that have those emotional attachments to food probably struggle with their weight anyway. It seems the cravings for them is mostly sweet foods, which may be an instinctive way of soothing and bringing their cortisol levels down. I eat for necessity, and enjoyment secondarily, and don’t really care much for sugary sweet things.

Yeah, same here. I don't understand where this difference in people originates from though, like even in my family literally everyone copes with stress by eating, except me for some unknown reason :/

 

[firebreather]

Very interesting topic for me. I used to have a raging appetite from stress but a few yrs ago my appetite became very poor

 

[Bozidar]

I was always so angry with myself. Why do I stuff my self with food every time I experience stress and I have a friend who completely looses his appetite when he is ill or under stress...

I suppose you are searching the answer on biochemical level. I don't know.
Could be something about dopamine. Chewing something motivates me.

 

[Peater503]

Very interesting topic for me. I used to have a raging appetite from stress but a few yrs ago my appetite became very poor

Hmm, very interesting indeed. Thank you for sharing.

At the end of the day, appetite is controlled to so many things/processes in the body, right? So, it could quite literally be everything and anything, like finding a needle in a haystack...

 

[Peater503]

I was always so angry with myself. Why do I stuff my self with food every time I experience stress and I have a friend who completely looses his appetite when he is ill or under stress...

I suppose you are searching the answer on biochemical level. I don't know.
Could be something about dopamine. Chewing something motivates me.

Thank you for sharing. Yes, on one side, I would really like to know where this difference in reaction to stress originates from in humans...

On the other, I would also just like to personally know it for myself, so I know how to adjust it because it's not healthy for my weight. But the root cause could literally be anything, right? So...not sure how or if I will ever find out...