Why comfort food is so comforting

And why understanding it can be important for your diet

(Getty)

The words 'comfort food' will immediately bring a snack or meal to mind for most people, but can a set of shared comfort foods be established? Things like ice cream, chicken soup and grilled cheeses are often cited, but are they inherently comforting?

A study published recently in the journal Appetite sought to settle this, with respondents 'attachment styles' being examined through tests on their associations and the keeping of food diaries.

The results all pointed to the same idea, that comfort food's power is down to the happy associations it calls to mind.

"I tend to think of it in terms of classical conditioning," Shira Gabriel, an associate professor of psychology at the State University of New York and co-author of the study said. "If you’re a small child and you get fed certain foods by your primary caregivers, then those foods begin to be associated with the feeling of being taken care of. And then when you get older, the food itself is enough to trigger that sense of belonging. But if, when you’re a child, those connections are more anxiety-ridden … then when you’re older and you eat those foods, you may feel less happy."

This might seem obvious, but realising how comfort food works highlights that it shouldn't be misconstrued in order to over-eat.

"People have this belief that high-calorie foods are the path out of difficult feelings,"Kelly Brownell, an obesity researcher at Duke University, previously told the New York. "But the assignment of the word 'comfort' to these foods implies that there is a relationship between 'comfort' and 'food' that may not exist."

(via Atlantic)