"I'm turning in my blue chips for chocolate chips," says William Rutherford of Rutherford Investment Management, a boutique investment company in Portland, Oregon.

 

Lately, you can't get out of bed in the morning without hearing news from financial commentators describing how the market has taken a hit. "Over the past year, the Wilshire index (index of all the major stocks) has fallen by 5 trillion dollars--and that gives you the overall feeling that the decline has taken place," asserts Larry Wachtel, Market Analyst with Prudential Securities. "Sometimes there's an ebb and flow, but the last two months it's gone straight down."

 

What's more, even some of the most conservative investors-- those who would otherwise keep their money in CDs or money market accounts--have gotten speculative with their dollars, and fallen prey. "Even very risk averse investors have gotten sucked in," says Bill Meehan, Chief Market Analyst with Cantor Fitzgerald. "You know, when all of your neighbors are drinking champagne and eating caviar, it's no fun to sit next door and have a baloney sandwich."

 

The psychological impact of going from a belief that this is a new economy and a new era to the realization that this was all a fantasy, is stressful, says Meehan, "especially when your $100,000 nest egg is now worth "50,000." And since the market helps to predict the economy, that spells bad news and a lack of job security for many Americans.

 

So how does all of this financial pressure affect our diets? The reason is obvious--money provides us with life's necessities, such as food, clothing, and shelter. Often it is a resource that we depend on for retirement. Thus, it's no wonder that experiencing financial stress can lead to emotional and psychological discomfort, which can cause one to develop unhealthful behaviors, such as drinking more, continuing to smoke or starting to smoke again, or overindulging in high-fat, calorie-laden foods.

 

 

ls experience a lack of appetite when under stress these hormones are part of the sympathetic nervous system, and when it is triggered, we experience a "fight or flight" feeling in our bodies, accompanied by a lack of appetite. The sympathetic or "fight or flight" nervous system has the opposite effects of the parasympathetic nervous system, the system associated with slowed heart rate, relaxation and increased cravings for food.

 

But, stress can have the reverse effect and cause emotional overeating. We can all probably relate to the act of heading for the cookie jar when we re upset, angry, anxious, or simply bored. Relieving negative emotions through food increases serotonin levels in our brain, a hormone responsible for relaxed and content feelings. Certainly financial stress qualifies as a negative emotion, and can lead to over-consumption of calories when our bodies are in search of more serotonin.