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Created page with "Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone. In many cases, it is characterized by its high caloric nature and high carbohydrate level. Ac..."
Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone. In many cases, it is characterized by its high caloric nature and high carbohydrate level.
According to the Henry Ford Health website:
{{Cquote|"The foods we tend to lean toward for comfort are often high in fat and sugar," says Sayde Beeler, MSW, RDN, a registered dietitian at Henry Ford Health. "Those types of foods stimulate the brain's reward system, the same pleasure center that gets activated when you take drugs."
A variety of factors converge to signal your brain to crave specific foods. Some people gravitate toward sweet foods. Others lean toward warm and hearty foods, particularly when the weather is cold. In each case, a combination of psychological and physiological factors drives the craving.
"Food can be a sort of antidote to messy, painful emotions," Beeler says. "People turn to food when they're feeling lonely, depressed or guilty, and to celebrate success and achievements. During the pandemic, people may be eating to self-medicate. You want foods that help you feel safe, comfortable and warm." And sometimes, food just provides us with a hit of nostalgia.
The drawback, of course, is that food doesn't address the emotion that triggered the craving. "If you're feeling guilt, sadness or grief, food may help numb those emotions in the moment, but then the feeling returns," Beeler says. "And if you're overconsuming foods that are high in fat and sugar, that can lead to increases in blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides over time."<ref>[https://www.henryford.com/blog/2020/12/do-you-have-an-unhealthy-relationship-with-comfort-food#:~:text=%22The%20foods%20we%20tend%20to,activated%20when%20you%20take%20drugs.%22 Do You Have An Unhealthy Relationship With Comfort Food?]</ref>}}
According to the Henry Ford Health website:
{{Cquote|"The foods we tend to lean toward for comfort are often high in fat and sugar," says Sayde Beeler, MSW, RDN, a registered dietitian at Henry Ford Health. "Those types of foods stimulate the brain's reward system, the same pleasure center that gets activated when you take drugs."
A variety of factors converge to signal your brain to crave specific foods. Some people gravitate toward sweet foods. Others lean toward warm and hearty foods, particularly when the weather is cold. In each case, a combination of psychological and physiological factors drives the craving.
"Food can be a sort of antidote to messy, painful emotions," Beeler says. "People turn to food when they're feeling lonely, depressed or guilty, and to celebrate success and achievements. During the pandemic, people may be eating to self-medicate. You want foods that help you feel safe, comfortable and warm." And sometimes, food just provides us with a hit of nostalgia.
The drawback, of course, is that food doesn't address the emotion that triggered the craving. "If you're feeling guilt, sadness or grief, food may help numb those emotions in the moment, but then the feeling returns," Beeler says. "And if you're overconsuming foods that are high in fat and sugar, that can lead to increases in blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides over time."<ref>[https://www.henryford.com/blog/2020/12/do-you-have-an-unhealthy-relationship-with-comfort-food#:~:text=%22The%20foods%20we%20tend%20to,activated%20when%20you%20take%20drugs.%22 Do You Have An Unhealthy Relationship With Comfort Food?]</ref>}}