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- Feel good. Eating food high in fat, sugar or salt activates the brain’s reward system. For example, chocolate has a strong effect on mood, generally increasing pleasant feelings and reducing tension.
- Self-medication. There seems to be a consistent connection between negative emotions and unhealthy foods, a phenomenon called emotional eating. In a bad mood, people are drawn to unhealthy foods (sugary and fatty) as a coping mechanism.
- The need to belong. We tend to associate certain foods with members of our family, social gatherings, and people taking care of us, such as Thanksgiving holidays with family.
- Nostalgic eating. There is a strong link between scents and emotional memory. The smell of foods can evoke vivid and detailed emotional memories of our past (Reid, et al., 2014).
Jan 6, 2023 · Why do people crave comfort food? Research has found that the brain "rewards" people when they consume certain foods. According to a 2020 paper published in the journal Physiology & Behavior, the ...
- Joe Phelan
- Overview
- Comfort food as a stress-management strategy
- Mice research and human applicability
- What are comfort foods?
•Eating comfort food when stressed switches off the brain region that stops you from over-eating, according to a new study.
•Under normal circumstances, this region neutralizes the chemical reward one gets from eating, making it less enjoyable.
•The phenomenon makes sense in wild animals, including non-modern humans, promoting a quick intake of energy in response to a threat.
•However, it is less helpful in today’s world, where stress is less often directly related to survival.
For people who are stressed, it may seem as if comfort food offers the ideal — and maybe only — quick fix. A new study in mice from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia suggests, however, that those people should think twice before tucking into a treat.
The study finds that the combination of stress and comfort food switches off the brain’s mechanism for letting one know when they have had enough to eat.
If eating comfort food as a response to stress can lead to weight gain, can it be a sensible personal strategy?
From an evolutionary perspective, according to the study’s lead author Dr. Chi Kin Ip of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, yes, it can be.
“Eating behavior is probably the most critical behavior that is conserved across all species to support survival,” he said.
Dr. Ip said that animals living in the wild lack the privilege of over-indulging in high fat food sources and that their stress systems allow them to survive by fine-tuning their energy use and supply depending on current demands.
High fat foods provide a way to gain energy quickly, and as Dr. Ip put it, “having more energy in the body is certainly better in the wild than having less energy.”
In modern humans, stress is less relevant to our literal survival.
Asked about the likelihood that a mouse study produced results that would also apply to humans, both Dr. Ip and Dr. Tomiyama felt that it did.
“Humans are animals just like mice, and non-human animal studies provide really tight experimental control that provides valuable information we just can’t get in humans,” Dr. Tomiyama said.
Dr. Ip explained some of the similarities between humans and animals:
“The anatomical structure, as well as the function of the habenula, is highly conserved across all species, including humans. The lateral habenula is a region that plays a critical role in regulating emotional response. Under activation, it triggers an aversive behavior, which is one of the mechanisms that triggers emotional distress. However, when they are silenced, it induces the opposite, which is a reward response,” he said.
It is not entirely clear if there is a universal definition of comfort food, said Dr. A. Janet Tomiyama, who was not involved in the study.
“People assume comfort food is automatically high fat, high-sugar, high calorie foods,” she said, “but no one has systematically tested this.”
The general sense, however, said Dr. Lesley Rennis, who was also not involved in the study, is that “comfort food is food that tastes good and makes us feel good. Typically, it is calorie-dense, rich in sugar and fat, and often has nostalgic and sentimental value.”
“Sometimes called hyper-palatable foods, these foods are rewarding and stimulate the release of feel-good hormones like serotonin.”
— Dr. Lesley Rennis
Much research has investigated the psychological appeal of comfort foods. Dr. Rennis said the study adds to the conversation.
- Healthier ways to satisfy comfort food cravings.
- Grilled Cheese. Topping the list of most comforting foods: Grilled cheese. Does that come as any surprise? Sometimes nothing can soothe the soul quite like melted cheese sandwiched between two slices of crusty bread.
- Chocolate. We don’t know about you, but one of our favorite ways to indulge a chocolate craving is in brownie form. Unfortunately, it tends to come with a hefty dose of added sugar.
- Ice cream. Perhaps you prefer your sugar fix frozen. Skip the tub and go homemade. This banana ice cream recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie has just two ingredients: bananas and your milk of choice.
Nov 7, 2020 · If you've been eating a bag of Doritos each night on the couch or craving the ketchup-laden meatloaf of your childhood, you're not alone. Many people are using food for comfort during the pandemic ...
Oct 28, 2024 · Cravings for comfort food stem from biological and psychological factors. High-carb and high-sugar foods trigger the release of serotonin and dopamine, offering an immediate mood boost.
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4 Biochemical Foundations for Comfort Food Craving Serotonin Production Among the neurotransmitter most important in control of mood, hunger, and sleep is serotonin.
