Do you ever wonder why is it when you are stress , you fall on thinking about what should you eat later?
Then there’s this little voice inside of you whispering “ hey , ice cream is good” the other one is like “ nah bruh , pizza is better”. And you’re like “ wait , what just happened, am I 3 in 1 now ? hearing two opposite voices fighting over what to eat” and then there’s you having to decide on which is which ,eventually buying both ?
Lesley Rennis, Chairperson of Health Education department said that “ Strong emotional states makes us turn to comfort food to feel safe and in control”. It’s like kind of a barrier for the meantime between the stress of work and your peace of mind.
- Activates brain’s reward system
Our hormones are chemicals which help our body regulate the processes.
When we are stress and sad , our body tells us to do something. And what our body does is crave for something that will make us feel good.
Eating foods that are sweet and starchy helps our system to create serotonin which can make us feel happy,calm and lessens the impact of the stress hormones which is known as cortisol.
Eating our comfort food gives us a boost and activates the reward system which is known as dopamine. Dopamine is linked to pleasurable sensations.
The liking of your tastebuds is not as the same as others that’s why pleasurable sensations differ to every person.
- Reminds us of memories from the past (social connection)
There are certain foods that reminds us of our good memories with others.
For example , back when you were a kid you always wait for the cotton candy vendor to arrive near the park and then you would hold your mother’s hand and try to drag her towards the cotton candy-man with your puppy-eyes look so that your mother would give you permission to buy one. Now that you are already an adult , after the office hours you see a candy store near the building. There’s a big chance of you going there because you felt uneasy or stressed or adulting just hit you and just seeing that cotton candy reminds your youth, when problem is not yet your problem.
Or it could be like this also , you and your partner back then loves to eat to a certain restaurant. Now that you’re not together anymore , you prevent yourself as much as possible not to order food from it or even enter that store. Because you know that memories of you two will again flash right in front of your eyes just by setting foot in there and you know deep inside of you that it can somehow pinch your heart.
Food, aside from it being a human fuel , it can also affect our mood depends on what is associated with it.
- Allows us to self medicate.
They say , “eat your medicine” but that’s not what this means .
Comfort food allows us to self medicate, it means that comfort food allows us to temporarily be okay, somehow gives us a boost. It’s like an embodiment of care and happiness that can be swallowed and hugs your heart and your whole being except it doesn’t have body.
We all have our own preferences in everything , foods for an instance.
But one thing is for sure, mostly our comfort food is wether sweety or starchy . And usually our comfort food is not healthy but more of an instant.
