What Brings Us Comfort?

Since I have been at college all I have wanted is a good home cooked meal. The food here is decent enough but there is nothing like some good chicken parmesan from home. The reason why this brings me comfort is because my grandma and my mom used to make this for me all of the time before I left for college. It reminds me of home and it brings me happiness.

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I found this article that talks about the food that we eat and how it contributes to how we feel. According to Wansink, from the article, “eating a specific food that a loved one favored can produce happy thoughts by triggering fond memories or associations of that person”. Food is very often connected to certain people in our lives who have made an impact on us. Just like chicken parmesan and my family, it gives me happiness that I cannot explain. Smith, from the article, after a survey of both men and women, he concluded that women are more likely to seek comfort from ice cream than anything else. Ice cream is a comfort food to women because it makes us feel better after having a long and hard day. Food allows us to reconnect with feelings and emotions that we may or may not have known were there.

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According to this article from the Daily Mail, we are soothed by fatty foods. Along with ice cream other fatty foods, such as chocolate, gives us enough comfort to get us through some bad times in our lives. Dr Lukas Van Oudenhove, from the article, conducted an experiment with MRI scans to see the emotional impact that having fat injected into our stomach has on us. First he showed the participants sad and neutral pictures along with sad and neutral music. After that, he injected them with fat or saline, however the participants did know which was which. He did this so he could get them to avoid childhood associations. From the experiment he was able to conclude that fat makes us more sad than saline does by about fifty percent. This means that even if we do not realize it, the fatty foods that we eat make us more susceptible to our emotion’s.

In contrast here is a video that counteracts whether or not it is food that makes us feel better or if it is time that makes us feel better. In the video, Tara Long talks about an experiment run by Heather Wagner that had the participants pick between food that they picked out and considered comfort food, food that they did not think was comfort food, a granola bar or nothing at all. They were asked to pick between these things after a twenty minute video that was supposed to bring up emotions and then after the video, participants had to rate their mood. After they would wait three minutes and during those three minutes they would choose what they wanted to eat or not eat. The study found that even people who ate nothing, felt better after the three minutes had passed.

What do you think makes us feel better? Comfort food or time?

Sources:

Here is where the picture of the ice cream is from.

Here is where the fatty foods picture is from.

8 thoughts on “What Brings Us Comfort?

  1. Stephanie Keyaka

    Hey Emily,

    OOOOOHHHH I love food. I didn’t really believe that there was a such a thing as “comfort food” til I went through a break up and all of a sudden, sweets seemed to be my best friend. It is then that I picked up my cookies and cream milkshake addiction. So I am a believer in that food affects our moods and this article backs me up. It details exactly what it is about these “comfort foods” that make us happy. I think you’d find it really interesting. Let me know if you ever want to talk favorite ‘comfort foods’ sometime.

    Article: http://www.obesityaction.org/educational-resources/resource-articles-2/nutrition/comfort-foods-why-do-they-make-us-happy

  2. Melissa Raquel Fraistat

    Hi,
    I’m glad I came across this article, because yesterday when I was eating a peanut-butter sandwich I immediately thought of home for some reason, and I felt a wave of happiness and nostalgia, which seemed a bit weird considering all I was doing was eating a sandwich. Now that I read your post, I guess a peanut-butter sandwich is my comfort food, so I unconsciously thought of home while I was eating. I also found an interesting article that associates food and memory, which seems to tie into play with why different foods are comfort foods for different people. Apparently the taste, smell, and texture of a food can trigger memories of other times you ate that particular food, and where you were when you ate it.

  3. Pengji Wei

    Hi Emily.
    I really liked about the last experiment. Because every time when someone letting choose something in a certain time, I feels like that is the longest time in my life. So as for me, I think things can bring me comfort is when I lay down on the couch and watching movie or listening the music. Because when I do these things, I found out movies and music can makes me feel really relaxing after a busy day. So every time when I finished my school word or have some stressful work to of, I always doing these two thing first to get me comfortable so I can do things better. And here is a link I found about why music or movies can make people feel relax or get comfortable.
    http://examinedexistence.com/how-music-changes-your-mood/

  4. Cristen Heaton

    I am totally soothed by fatty foods. When I am tired and just am in a completely bad mood I usually order Chinese food and it totally brings me comfort. It gets really bad though because since I have anxiety I tend to eat a lot of unhealthy food because it brings me comfort. Since living in East Halls I am so close to the Creamery, so the death by chocolate milkshakes are a must. After it’s all said and done though I tend to feel extremely awful about myself after I eat all the junk food which then makes me eat more. Hahaha, it’s never ending. I found this article of the science behind why you crave comfort food! Check it out. http://time.com/3975676/comfort-food-cravings/

  5. David Louis Haselkorn

    This is a great topic to bring up. Many people turn to food as a means of comfort, hence the saying “comfort food”. However this an issue because many people have insecurities with their weight and they turn to food to deal with it. My mother is a fitness trainer and nutritionist and deals with people daily in effort to change their diet. A lot of what she sees is people eating their problems away. Often times it’s the food mentioned in the article like ice cream before bed. This is where the weight tends to really stay on. Eating before bed and late at night is harder for the body to process the food. People should really make an effort to stay away from these types of food because if it becomes a habit, the weight will start to pile on.

  6. Stephanie Keyaka

    Hey Emily,

    OOOOOHHHH I love food. I didn’t really believe that there was a such a thing as “comfort food” til I went through a break up and all of a sudden, sweets seemed to be my best friend. It is then that I picked up my cookies and cream milkshake addiction. So I am a believer in that food affects our moods and this article backs me up. It details exactly what it is about these “comfort foods” that make us happy.

    http://www.obesityaction.org/educational-resources/resource-articles-2/nutrition/comfort-foods-why-do-they-make-us-happy

  7. Kaitlyn A Kaminski

    Hi Emily,

    I’ve always wondered what makes us feel comfortable- I know for me I am not comfortable unless I am laying down in my bed/couch with a blanket wrapped around me. I need warmth and won’t feel comfortable with someone unless I can tell them anything/have a sense of trust with them. Certain foods do not comfort me, but a little ice cream never hurt anybody. I think food comforts people because the more calories/the more sour/sweet taste people love… the same goes for fried foods, people can’t get enough of them because they are satisfying. Here’s an article on why people like junk food- http://www.tweentribune.com/article/tween56/why-do-we-love-junk-food/

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