Craving Comfort Foods
When You're Sad, You Crave Food That Makes You Feel Good
The food-mood connection is clear: happy people don't eat as much comfort food as sad people. Here's the biology behind craving comfort foods, & male-female differences.
Craving comfort foods is different for everyone because we have different views of comfort foods – and which comfort foods work! For instance, when I'm sad I'm craving comfort foods of mashed potatoes and French Toast. One of my close friends craves comfort foods of chocolate ice cream and potato chips. One thing many people have in common when they're craving comfort food is a yearning for sugar and fat (those who crave fresh salads and lean fish are lucky indeed!).
Are there male-female differences when you're craving comfort foods? Read on!
Craving comfort food: the definition
Comfort food is "a specific food consumed under a specific situation to obtain psychological comfort," according to the University of Illinois (UI) Food and Brand Lab. When studying craving for comfort food, UI researchers were surprised to find that people listed homemade healthy food as comforting almost as often as less nutritious fat and sugar foods (eg, chocolate chip cookies or Cheetos). Craving comfort foods isn't all about sugar and fat.
Knowing how hunger works sheds light on the craving for comfort foods.
Craving comfort food: the food-mood connection
The food-mood connection and craving comfort food was studied by Cornell University researchers, headed by Economics and Management Professor Brian Wansink. They recruited participants to watch either a sad movie ("Love Story") or a happy one ("Sweet Home Alabama"). They found that the participants who watched "Love Story" ate more buttered salted popcorn than those who watched "Sweet Home Alabama" – those people ate more grapes.
The craving for comfort food is affected by what you're watching.
Craving comfort food: why do we turn to it when we're sad?
The researchers speculated that happy people want to maintain their positive mood, so they consider the long-term consequences of craving comfort foods. Their craving for comfort food is moderated by their mood; they choose healthy, nutritional foods.
Sad people are craving comfort food to overcome their feelings. One reason food is comforting is that a snack filled with sugar and/or fat can give them a fast "bump of euphoria" which makes them feel good. When eating gets out of control, an eating disorder can develop.
Craving comfort food: links to happy memories
People link comfort foods with happy memories, people they love, or feelings they want to recapture. It's not the food itself that provides comfort; it's the feelings that the food stimulates. If your mom always fed you homemade chicken soup or freshly baked brownies when you were ill or upset, then you 'll be craving comfort foods when you're sad.
Craving comfort food: male-female differences?
In a different study about craving comfort food, Wansink found that both men and women choose ice cream as their first favorite comfort food. Their second and third choices were much different, though: women craved chocolate and cookies while men preferred soup or pizza/pasta. Men prefer hot, main meals but women don't. The craving for comfort food is different in males and females.
"While each of us may look for a comfort food when we are either sad or happy, we are more likely to eat more of it when we are sad," Professor Wansink said. The craving for comfort food is definitely linked to sad feelings.
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