Does Comfort Food Really Make You Feel Better?

When you're feeling down, chances are you sometimes turn to comfort foods to help boost your mood! Do these foods actually help you feel better? Tara takes a look at this common myth, and debunks the theory that comfort food makes you happier!


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Comfort Food Myth: Ice Cream May Not Boost Your Mood
"The idea that eating certain foods make us feel better when we're down may be a myth, psychologists say."

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[amandaegeskovhald]

I have never turned to comfort food ever. Not once. I turn to sleep instead.
Just sleep the pain away. Crying makes it super easy to fall asleep no matter what time of the day it is after all.

[EefjuH]

For me food had given me comfort for years! Usually during my exam periods I start munching on m&ms, mars bars, chocolate muffins, cookies, you name it. But lately I realized that I was just munching to munch, so I changed the things I munched on to fruits (grapes, cherries) or chewing gum. Of course I can still really enjoy a piece of chocolate (cake :P) but now it is a reward, and a treat to eat it, not just something I am stuffing my face with to pass the time. 

[aammww]

HELL NO! ...but it makes my taste buds happy, which in turns makes my brain happy, which is why i'm changing my answer to yes -_-

[campkira]

A bad mood that last 3 min from a sad, angry, fear video, I do not think this is a good research.

[jyrolys]

These "studies" are absolutely ridiculous. If i were invited to participate in a study such as this, the results would be different from reality. This proves nothing and is inaccurate. I can't relate to none of those statements.

[waynepayne]

It makes me feel good while eating it and then I feel like shit after

[sklanman]

Domapine is a rewards neurotransmitter, it's released when you eat because eating helps to ensure survival. By this, it makes sense that eating makes us feel better because Dopamine is partly responsible for feelings of pleasure.

[PockASqueeno]

I never have understood the term "comfort food." Any food I like is going to give me some sense of pleasure or "comfort, " if that's the word you prefer, especially if I'm hungry.

[Hexilux]

I think if they looked at the chemistry they might find that the sweet comfort food released serotonin and other comforting brain chemicals.

[ethansanctimony]

i doubt eating foods doesn't increase your mood. If you're eating something you usually get a positive feeling from it... pretty common sense... If we didn't have that positive feeling some of us wouldn't eat as much or even at all (in a simple case... obviously most people know if you don't eat you will die)

[Toastmaster_]

I don't think comfort foods themselves are why we feel better but the reason we're eating them.  If you're feeling sad, a friend isn't going to buy you a cabbage and say "maybe this will cheer you up".  They get you something you like to eat, and its the gesture that makes you feel better.

[JeffreyClemmonsJZK]

I agree with what most people are saying: just the general act of eating makes me happy, honestly. I use food to celebrate and to calm down, to wallow in my sorrow and filth, and to think (the crunch of potato chips can be quite enlightening when you need to come up with an idea for a story). Actually kind of peckish now...

[TheLostHistoryChannelTKTC]

Heading out for A Buffet in a few Hours, Looking Forward to it aswell...

[zeratir]

Nope i dont even use the word comfort food. but id definetly argure that certain food make me more happy than other food... especially if i have a craving for it...

[rEsonansDx]

Not just time, but the activity. Even if time passes and you still think about that stress, it's unlikely that the stress will heal faster than when you're thinking about something different.

[HekaAlchemi]

my "comfort" foods are anything with lots of carbohydrates and low fat! however, they're not really a comfort food, but a necessity. And they can literally help you to feel better. The brain runs on glucose, and when we eat carbohydrates it helps feed our cells and brain with the glucose we need to function optimally; which, can boost the mood. Most people are chronically under-carb'd because they don't eat enough carbohydrates. Not enough glucose going to the brain results in moodiness and chronic fatigue. people then resort to stimulants, such as caffeine to boost them up, because they don't have enough glucose/energy in their body

[Zakerath]

Time is definitely the best healer, but eating is a great way of distraction, which makes the time period easier. It's interesting though that "comfort food" isn't supposed to help much, because I'd at least imagine that eating something the person enjoyed would elevate their mood more than a food they didn't enjoy. Now they didn't try it with a food the subject didn't like, but since results are similar for the "nothing at all" control, it seems in speculation that the effect wouldn't be a strong difference. Possibly, the effect of eating "comfort food" is about making one look more optimistically. The idea of that may be a myth, but it could also be the idea of that that makes a convincing placebo, creating the indented effect. Nonetheless, such "comfort foods" releases dopamine, which is connected to happiness and feeling good emotionally. I think I'll side on the side of comfort foods raise an optimistic outlook.

[jillianmorrison]

I love having a salad. It makes me feel good because I know I'm being healthy and it will make me feel better

[CaiusTheShadow]

I think that the idea of comfort food is likely more based on a mild for of addiction then anything else. For instance, I am a smoker and when I am stressed I want a cigarette, but my nonsmoker friends seem to be relieved of stress just as quickly as I am despite me having something I see as a stress aid. This is likely because time is the largest factor for relief of stress and the addiction actually makes me more stressed in the moment. So for any nonsmoker out there who has thought about smoking for stress relief I would strongly advise against it. It is an addictive drug with a lot of bad side effects and no good ones. Hell becoming an alcoholic would likely be better for your health and at least you would get drunk.

[wongwanchap]

Of course, time can heal anything (not surprise at all). But most important, is the comfort food speed up the bad mood decay?