After a hard day you like to treat yourself with your favorite comfort food:ice cream, chips or chocolate. Research shows that you are fooling yourself.
Comfort food has no more effect on your mood than other food (or not eating).
How did researchers discover that?
In a first session, 100 people were asked which food makes them feel better when they are in a bad mood. They were also asked which food they like, without affecting their mood.
Three sessions
In the next three sessions, the participants were shown a film that evoked negative feelings. Then they were given food:after session one their comfort food, after session two something they liked, after session three the participants were not given anything to eat.
What turns out?
The mood of the participants improved over time, but comfort food had no additional effect. After all, when the participants hadn't eaten anything, they felt just as good.
Time heals all wounds
According to this research, there is no point in eating until you feel better. That hits hard. The good news:this bad feeling will pass, with or without comfort food.
