Emotional overeating is characterized by an irresistible need for food, usually for foods low in trace elements or vitamins, but high in fat, starch and sugar, as a reaction to difficult or unpleasant psychological states. Food is not taken to satisfy normal biological hunger, but to meet emotional needs that are not being met in more appropriate ways. In contrast to bulimia nervosa, however, a person who experiences emotional overeating does not vomit to eliminate food.