What Makes Your Simple Comfort Foods Special?

We all have foods that lift our moods. We turn to food when we are both happy and unhappy. That is the specialty of food. It is connected to our emotions at a deep level, whether we acknowledge it or not. We turn to specific foods for celebrations or after a tough exam. Comfort food is nothing but emotional eating. It is a type of reinforcement with the help of food.

There are scales like the Emotional Eating Scale which studies food consumption specifically with relation to various emotions like anxiety, depression or anger.

Even from infancy, food is associated with soothing and comfort. It is also the crux of social interactions all over the world. All cultures celebrate food, which is the very basis for a long and healthy life.

Emotional eating

When we eat delicious foods, our brain secretes the hormone called dopamine. Dopamine is associated with desire to continue doing something. It is the same dopamine which secretes when kids are busy playing on the phones.

We crave for comfort food mostly to relieve stress. This is also known as emotional eating. In the long term emotional eating can lead to weight gain as most comfort foods are fatty food or sugary snacks.

You might have seen friends eating chocolates when they are upset. Or people on a strict diet resorting to eating carbohydrates which might otherwise be restricted in their diet plan.

Emotional eating can occur even when you are not hungry. You are eating to distract yourself from the present situation. Food is merely used as a distraction. This is not different from people turning to alcohol during stressful times. Instead of alcohol, emotional eaters substitute it with food.

It can be incredibly tough to resist this urge to eat more and more food even when your body does not require it. Mindfulness is an effective intervention strategy. Observing what you eat, when you eat and how you eat it can prevent all future disorders like obesity.

Instant Gratification

Comfort foods provide you a short term good feeling. You feel good till you eat the food. In that sense it focuses on temporary well being. Comfort foods are generally foods from your childhood or foods associated with special occasions. They are linked to a strong emotional memory. It makes the person view the food as a solution to an emotional problem which is not true.

Positive Reinforcement

A particular food becomes a comfort food over a period of time. When eating it, you may feel relaxed or happy. This is the positive reinforcement you give to your brain. You experience different sensations like its lovely smell or extraordinary taste and your brain is anticipating all these the minute you look at that food. This is why you want to keep eating that food.

Negative Reinforcement

The same cause and effect can have a different effect on you too. You associate this food with something that is being taken away from you – in this case, your emotional problems. Not surprisingly your comfort food can be related to a favorite person than a situation, in few instances. Every time you eat that food, you reinforce your happy memory and it can become a habit.

Indulgence

When you reach for your comfort food, once in a while it is absolutely fine. Every one has a special craving for certain kinds of foods. But you should be careful about your comfort eating turning into an addiction.

Over eating could become a psychological disorder. Indulgence should be done in moderation. You cannot solve your emotional ups and downs with food. Food addiction is a tough battle and the craving of food followed by the mental slump of giving in, is a vicious cycle.

Mood and Comfort Foods

Numerous studies show that food is strongly related to mood. When you are happy you eat your favorite food.

When you are sad, stressed or lonely you eat comfort food.

Both need not be the same. You can have a favorite dish and a different comfort food. The very concept of comfort food stems from a special memory. It could be a

• Past Social occasion
• Celebration
• Family Dish
• A dish associated with a special person.

Comfort food also provides a form of secure attachment when you are feeling lonely. It could the link to your friends or family when you are not with them at present.

People eat food even when they are bored!

Short term Vs Long term

The intersting aspect about food, is its varied perception among people. Not all people have the same comfort foods. There are definitely some foods like

• French Fries
• Chocolates
• Ice creams
• Potato chips

which are stereotypes of comfort foods (you would have come across plenty of such comfort food eating scenes in movies).

Food when associated with long term gives rise to positive benefits. People become more health conscious and take care of their eating patterns if they think their food should serve them long term. On the other hand, viewing the food for its temporary benefits result in over eating, indulgence frequently etc.

You make unhealthy food choices when you are handling negative emotions.

Feel-good foods

There are certain feel good foods that are solidly backed by research like avacados, blueberries or yogurt. When you feel like you are craving for excessive food, you can substitute those foods with feel good foods. It can be a simple change like having yogurt instead of milk. If such foods are already your comfort foods, then you will have no problem using them.

Comfort Vs Guilt

The concept of ‘comfort’ is not just limited to food. Reaching for the cookie jar when you feel stressful might prove more harmful to you in the long run. You reach out for a type of food to feel secured. You can experience the same security if you talk to a friend during tough times. Your brain doesn’t differentiate between the two when the end result is the same.

This kind of balance is crucial to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Many people admit that they feel guilty when they skip their diet or eat unplanned meals. This again causes psychological stress on that person. You eat to relieve your stress but end up feeling guilty.

So too much dependence on your comfort food is never good for your psychological well being. The ideal consumption of food should give you a genuine sense of well being.

Restaurant Menu

High end restaurants use restaurant menu engineering process to arrive at a well designed restaurant menu. They pay attention to the placement of every individual item on the menu. Most menus if you look closer, will have a couple of comfort food options. It could be snack like French fries or rice like curd rice. You will have options to choose food for every mood.

According to research in the International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, people who were less than 34 years prefer ice creams as their comfort food, while the older population mostly were inclined towards soups( mostly chicken soup), pasta or mashed potatoes.

Sensory cues of comfort

Also yet another research throws light on how we receive sensory cues when we eat our comfort foods. Though all senses play important roles in perceiving food and the whole eating process, humans are visually dominant creatures.

That is one reason why food advertising is such a huge business. Triggering visual hunger is the main aim of such advertisements. When you look at that particular food, you feel like eating it.

Sensory cues like holding something warm in your hands, like a mug of coffee can actually make you feel positive. This is because physical warmth and social warmth are related.

Olfactory cues from essential oils or smells like lavendar or lemon grass are comforting. When foods are associated with similar smells (aromatic) , they might feel comfortable. This is also the essence of aromatherathy – the release of stress using olfactory cues.

Conclusion

It is difficult to pinpoint which aspect of the food offers comfort to the person eating that food. Mostly comfort foods are associated with some kind of positive social interaction in the past (a very pleasant memory). If you are feeling lonely, you can eat your comfort food one in a while but you can’t make it a substitute for your emotional short comings.