Pain and Eating: Why Your Suffering Changes Your Appetite

# PAIN MAKES YOU EAT MORE AND ANYTHING: YOUR BRAIN SEEKS TO OFFSET SUFFERING!

*by Laurent Glatz – for Athletic Carnivore*

You have back pain, knee pain, joint aches, or you’ve been nursing an injury for several weeks. Your sleep quality declines, your movement decreases, and without fully understanding why, your eating habits start to shift. You snack more, crave foods you don’t usually eat, desire sugar, fat, or simply something pleasurable. Sometimes, you’ve just finished a meal and yet feel the urge to raid the fridge again. You might think you lack discipline, have lost motivation, or no longer control your diet. **But what you interpret as a lack of willpower could actually be your brain’s reaction to pain.**

We tend to view pain as purely physical: a damaged muscle, an inflamed joint, a painful tendon, or an injury that won’t heal. Yet pain is not confined to the body part that hurts. It also activates brain mechanisms involved in emotions, attention, motivation, and behavior. When pain becomes chronic, it can profoundly alter our relationship with food.

YOUR BRAIN IS NOT NECESSARILY SEEKING FOOD, IT’S SEEKING TO FEEL BETTER

The first mistake is to assume every food craving corresponds to an energy need. Our eating behavior depends on multiple systems. Some regulate hunger and satiety, while others govern motivation, pleasure, and reward-seeking.

When pain persists, it disrupts this balance. The brain constantly processes an unpleasant experience. Sleep becomes less restorative, physical activities are limited, frustrations build up, and usual sources of pleasure diminish.

In this context, food becomes an especially accessible reward.

No need to run, go out, or make a big effort. Just open a cupboard.

Highly palatable foods, especially those combining sugar and fat, activate brain reward circuits. Dopamine fuels motivation and anticipation of this reward, while other systems contribute to the experience of pleasure.

This doesn’t mean people in pain lack dopamine. It simply means that seeking food pleasure can become particularly attractive when other sources of satisfaction are reduced.

**And this is precisely where the line between hunger and comfort-seeking begins to blur.**

A 2025 STUDY REVEALS THAT 69% OF PEOPLE EAT MORE WHEN PAIN INCREASES

This phenomenon is not mere speculation.

In February 2025, Claudia Roche, Amy Burton, and Toby Newton-John, researchers at the University of Technology Sydney, published a study titled *Eating to Feel Better: The Role of Comfort Eating in Chronic Pain* in the *Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings* [1].

They surveyed 141 Australian adults living with chronic pain to understand how pain influenced their eating behaviors.

The results are particularly revealing.

**69.4% of respondents reported eating more than usual during pain flare-ups.**

Even more telling, **82.1% said they consumed more of their favorite foods to feel better when pain intensified.**

The researchers went further by examining the reasons behind these behaviors.

Among participants, 51.8% said they ate to experience pleasure, 49.6% to distract themselves, and 39% to ease unpleasant emotions.

These reasons often overlapped.

In other words, for many participants, eating was not just a response to hunger. It was also a way to seek pleasure or divert attention from suffering.

The study relies on self-reported questionnaires and does not prove that pain automatically causes increased food intake. But it highlights an association worth noting: for some people, **pain can turn food into a comfort tool.**

THE TRAP BEGINS WHEN YOUR BRAIN LINKS PAIN WITH FOOD PLEASURE

Imagine someone who regularly trains, monitors their diet, and has stable habits. An injury occurs. They can no longer train normally. Sleep worsens, walking causes pain, and frustrations accumulate.

One evening, after a particularly tough day, they indulge in a food treat. For a few moments, their attention shifts away from pain. They regain a pleasant sensation in a day that sorely lacks it.

The next day, the pain remains. The temptation to repeat this behavior may return.

Gradually, the brain can learn to associate an unpleasant situation with the prospect of a food reward.

This learning mechanism doesn’t mean eating actually relieves the cause of pain. It means a behavior that temporarily brings pleasure becomes more likely when a similar situation arises.

This is how a usually disciplined person can find themselves snacking regularly without understanding why.

They believe they must fight their appetite, when what they feel may not be hunger alone.

AN OCTOBER 2026 SCIENTIFIC REVIEW CONFIRMS THE LINK BETWEEN STRESS AND EMOTIONAL EATING

A second publication broadens this perspective.

On October 21, 2026, Sohom Saha and colleagues published a systematic review titled *Emotional eating as a stress- and emotion-regulation coping mechanism: a systematic review of quantitative evidence across populations* in the *Journal of Eating Disorders* [2].

They analyzed **19 scientific studies** on the relationships between stress, emotions, and eating behaviors.

Their findings show that emotional eating is frequently associated with higher perceived stress, negative emotions, anxiety or depressive symptoms, and difficulties in emotional regulation.

Some studies also reported increased subsequent consumption of sugary foods and drinks among people exhibiting more emotional eating and psychological distress.

It’s important to distinguish association from causation: this review does not prove stress always causes increased eating, nor that eating is always an emotional regulation strategy.

But combined with Roche and colleagues’ work on chronic pain, it sheds interesting light.

Persistent pain can be a significant source of stress. And stress can, in some people, lead to changes in eating behavior.

**Food can thus end up addressing a problem that was not originally nutritional.**

WHY SOME EAT MORE WHILE OTHERS LOSE APPETITE

Here is where universal nutritional advice begins to show its limits.

Faced with pain, some people lose appetite. Others maintain their habits. Still others constantly seek something to eat.

The same injury does not necessarily produce the same eating behavior.

Sleep quality, stress levels, personal history, eating habits, physical activity, and individual responses to unpleasant situations all influence this reaction.

This is also why at Athletic Carnivore we focus on individual functioning and neuroprofiles. Not because a neuroprofile can scientifically predict eating responses to pain, but because observing habits and behaviors under pressure helps better understand individual reactions.

Two people can follow the exact same diet, endure similar pain, and react completely differently.

The question is not only what they eat, but also what food represents in their daily functioning.

CARNIVORE AND LOW CARB DIETS DO NOT AUTOMATICALLY SOLVE THIS PROBLEM

A diet rich in animal proteins, built around minimally processed foods, can promote satiety and reduce exposure to highly palatable industrial products.

This is one potential benefit of a properly adapted carnivore or low carb approach.

But there is a fundamental difference between improving physiological satiety and changing pain-associated eating behavior.

A person can consume enough protein, be well nourished, and still seek food when in pain.

They can also follow a strict carnivore diet and notice increased food cravings during injury or difficult recovery periods.

In such cases, increasing restrictions or constantly changing plate composition may not address the real issue.

**Because it is entirely possible to master nutrition while maintaining an emotional relationship with food.**

WHAT IF YOU TRIED TO FIX YOUR DIET WHILE THE REAL PROBLEM LIES ELSEWHERE?

You might spend weeks reducing portions, cutting foods, or tightening restrictions thinking you’ll regain control.

But if your cravings mainly appear when you’re in pain, sleeping poorly, or unable to do your usual activities, it’s necessary to look at the situation differently.

True hunger, pleasure-seeking, and stress responses can produce similar behaviors without involving the same mechanisms.

This is precisely what makes individual analysis valuable.

At Athletic Carnivore, the goal is not just to examine a plate. It’s to understand how diet, physical activity, recovery, stress, sleep, and behavioral habits interact in the same person.

Because multiplying dietary changes without identifying what truly triggers cravings risks correcting the wrong parameters.

Pain does not always cause overeating. But when behavior changes coincide with painful periods, this relationship deserves attention.

Before blaming yourself for suddenly lacking discipline, ask what really changed in your daily life.

**When you’re in pain and reach for food again, is your body truly demanding energy, or is your brain seeking a moment of comfort?**

**Understand your nutritional and behavioral profile: [Athletic Carnivore](https://athleticcarnivore.fr/en/)**

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Scientific Studies and References

**[1] Roche, C., Burton, A., & Newton-John, T. (2025).** *Eating to Feel Better: The Role of Comfort Eating in Chronic Pain.* Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 32(3), 460–467. Published online February 22, 2025.

DOI: [10.1007/s10880-025-10064-6](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-025-10064-6)

[View study on PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39987397/)

**[2] Saha, S., Choudhary, S., Choudhary, P. K., Arslan Kabasakal, S., Katanić, B., & Bangari, D. (2026).** *Emotional eating as a stress- and emotion-regulation coping mechanism: a systematic review of quantitative evidence across populations.* Journal of Eating Disorders. Published online October 21, 2026.

DOI: [10.1186/s40337-026-01787-4](https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-026-01787-4)

[View review on Springer Nature](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40337-026-01787-4)

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