SOMETIMES it’s tasty food, other times it’s stress.

Whatever drives you to overeat, it can become a problem if it's all the time.

Dr Michael Russo, a weight loss surgeon in the US, has explained why people often eat too much.

His simple trick is an easy way to stop you overeating at meal times – and help you lose weight as an added bonus.

In a TikTok viewed 175,000 times, Dr Russo said: “Ever wonder why you overeat?

“Overeating is defined as consuming over 1 to 1.5 litres of food, which is the fill volume of a normal stomach.

“Your stomach can stretch to make room, but if you eat too quickly, you can fill your stomach before the hormonal signal has had time to reach your brain.”

By hormonal signals, Dr Russo means those that are secreted in the digestive system that tell the brain to “stop eating”.

So-called stretch receptors in the stomach are activated when it fills up and hormones are released when food enters the small intestine.

One hormone, leptin, is produced by fat cells when we are eating to tell the brain there is enough energy stored.

It’s thought that it takes around 20 minutes for these signals to reach the brain, but it varies from person to person.

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Dr Russo said the best way to overcome overeating is “by making a conscious decision to eat slower”.

Harvard Health explains that when someone eats too quickly, there is not enough time for communication between the gut and the brain.

It causes you to eat more and more, and by the time the brain is aware the stomach is full, you’ve eaten too much.

But there are many factors at play that can cause someone to eat too much food on a regular basis.

For example, people with obesity have shown to be more resistant to the hormone leptin, otherwise known as the “appetite suppressor”.

The leptin signalling does not work as well, and this is thought to be one of the main biological reasons people struggle with obesity.

Sometimes overeating can be a person's coping mechanism for emotions or is a habit attached to watching TV, reward, or spending time with friends or family.

Overeating is usually seen as habits such as always having seconds after dinner, finishing a whole bag of popcorn or eating a packet of biscuits with your tea, instead of a couple.

But there are warning signs when overeating becomes more serious, and could be a mental health condition. 

Some people overeat because they have binge eating disorder, which can be triggered by low self-esteem, dieting or stress.

Those addicted to overeating use food to cope with negative emotions, stress, or as a source of comfort.

Binge eating episodes are when someone eats a lot of food in a short period of time, often with feelings of guilt, shame and secrecy. 

Classified as a mental illness, binge eating disorder has a diagnostic criteria including a bingeing episode at least once a week for three months.

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