Ever wondered why comfort foods are so comforting? Why is it that when you are home alone, chilling out and just relaxing on a lazy weekend you want to eat and drink something that satisfies your soul? Why is it that when you’re sad or lonely, sick or tired, and just so low, indulging in your favorite foods lifts your spirits like nothing else and makes you feel like everything is going to be just fine?

Science has proved that the human need for comfort foods is due to a chemical reaction in the brain; when you are low and have cried your head out, you unconsciously walk to the kitchen and find the bag of double choco-chip cookies and having taken one bite, you feel like for the moment, that cookie is your best friend. This happens because your brain releases a "feel good" hormone in order to compensate for the negative feelings.

Research has proved an interesting relationship between grief and depression and food and the term Comfort Food was first used according to Webster's Dictionary, in 1977.

The University of California studied the psychological relationship between stress/grief and food and concluded that people eat high-fat and high-sugar foods during chronic stress, which helps to balance out hormones in their body. During high stress and pain situations, the adrenal glands in our body secrete a certain hormones called glucocorticoids. It is these hormones that cause us to eat pleasurable foods (high fat and sugar content) and accumulate abdominal fat and then the brain receives a signal that tells it to stop the release of the stress hormone once we have eaten the comfort food. This is why your body responds to comfort food.  

While the hormonal reaction is common in humans, the food that makes you “feel good” may not be the food that makes me feel good. Comfort food is not just a psychological phenomenon but has its connection to personal, behavioral and cultural choices. Comfort foods are those which take us down memory lane and have a connection with memories of our past and events that made us feel happy, secure and safe. So if your grandmother baked cookies on weekends and you sat eating them while she told you stories, as an adult, when you sit home and relax, a similar cookie makes you feel happy.  

Here are some reasons why you should indulge your self in comfort food when you are sad, sick or stressed. Comfort foods have benefits.

• It is better to harm your body with high fat –sugar food than take to intoxicants and drugs which are far more harmful.

• You get a sense of security and feel safe. Next time you feel scared; eat something that will make you feel brave and strong.

• Feeling low and unhappy, eat something that made you feel happy or a food that you ate at a time when you were really happy.

• When you are unwell and in bed, eat something that your mother made you when you were sick as a child. Trust me; it will drive the flu away.

• Tired of your crazy hectic life that feels like a nightmare? Just sit back and eat something that you ate on weekends and in holidays in your childhood.  

• Away from your family and home? Eat something you ate during festive days or something you ate with your family or friends back home. This will make your feel like your back home and you will feel loved and comforted by the wonderful moments you had at home.

• You pass down traditions to your children – Remember how every time your mother made something she loved and told you a story related to it and now you make the same food for your family every time you remember that moment? This is how family recipes are passed down to generations to come.

So next time you feel like eating something that will touch your soul, don’t ignore that feeling. Go ahead and indulge your self in some comfort food.

Image Courtesy - getbetterhealth.com