Excerpted from the May 2023 issue of the Sonoma County Gazette: Research over the past 20 years shows the same result time and time again: when we’re stressed, we want what researchers call high energy and nutrient-dense foods—those snacks, treats and meals that are high in fat and sugar. Comfort foods improve mood, reduce loneliness and connect us to cherished memories, often linked to childhood. A craving for comfort food typically stems from an extreme emotion, including happiness, meaning we reach for comfort foods even to celebrate. Comfort foods often trigger our reward system by releasing dopamine, a hormone and neurotransmitter. When we take a bite of that comfort food, whether it’s a hot fudge sundae, peanut butter and apples, tikka masala or a double bacon cheeseburger, dopamine floods the brain and gives us a huge boost of pleasure feelings. Any negative feelings we may have been experiencing before—stress, anger,…
Tag: comfort food
Comfort Food . . . Prompt #653
Comfort Food is a real thing. The idea of eating for comfort might be new to you. Or you may have experienced how food can bring relaxation and a sense of well-being since you were a child. Perhaps you are an “eat to live” person and became a “love to eat” person during shelter in place, when activities were limited and frustrations were high. Here’s what happened to me with comfort food during shelter in place, summer 2020. “Comfort food took on a new meaning. It was more than comfort food. It was about how to cope with feeling scared. When food filled my belly, there was more than a feeling of satiation. There was a feeling of we’re going to be okay. We can handle this. I tell myself this is just a moment in time. It’s temporary. But I know we are forever changed.” —“Things I Never Thought…