Restrained, emotional eating and depression can be a risk factor for metabolic syndrome

Introduction: metabolic syndrome (MetS) can have a bidirectional effect on emotional and restrained eating. Objectives: our aims are to find interrelations between MetS and emotional eating, restrained eating, additionally with depression. Methods: cross-sectional study. Participants aged between 18 and 63, and mostly were obese (n = 200). Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) were used to find associations between eating patterns and metabolic syndrome. Results: our study ensured evidences for physiological relations between restrained and emotional eating with MetS. Biochemical parameters showed that restrained eaters were less insulin resistant and participants with MetS had higher emotional eating and lower restrained eating. Besides, restrained eaters had lower triglyceride, homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), fasting insulin, blood glucose, and higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels; and emotional eating was parallel with fasting insulin level and HOMA-IR. Conclusions: MetS had strong associations with eating behaviors as restrained, emotional and external. In line with the findings of the study, additionally, women were more susceptible to MetS than men were. In the regulation of restrictive, emotional and external eating behaviors, dietitians and psychology experts should be in cooperation to treat disordered eating patterns.