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Comfort food

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The term "comfort food" (added to the Webster's Dictionary in 1972) refers to foods consumed to achieve some level of improved emotional status, whether to relieve negative psychological affect or to increase positive.[1] More generally, comfort food can be defined as food that brings some form or measure of comfort, sense of well-being, or easy satisfaction, usually from being warm and filling such as a dish made with a staple food, or basically pleasing such as sweets or desserts. Such food choices may consist of simple, familiar food -- perhaps home-cooked or eaten at informal restaurants. Some definitions suggest that home-prepared dishes are most typical,[10] but according to Wansink and Sangerman, Americans tend to select prepared foods and fast food for comfort uses, with ice cream, potato chips and chocolate ranking near the top. However, the term is meaningful not as a list of particular items, which will vary considerably from individual to individual, as well as culturally and by situation and emotional trigger, but as a psychological category of behavior.

Comfort foods may involve foods that have a nostalgic element either to an individual or a specific culture. One recent development, as chefs have explored the roots of American cuisine and tried to define it as a unique style, is the advent of fine dining comfort food restaurants that feature more careful cooking and presentation, higher quality and fresh organic ingredients, and consequently, higher prices.[2]Japan has many types of comfort food, typically simple, hearty, inexpensive dishes like miso soup, onigiri, ramen, nikujaga, chazuke, or Japanese curry.[3]

One study divided college-students' comfort-food identifications into four categories (nostalgic foods, indulgence foods, convenience foods, and physical comfort foods) with a special emphasis on the deliberate selection of particular foods to modify mood or affect, and indications that the medical-therapeutic use of particular foods may ultimately be a matter of mood-alteration.[4]

The identification of particular items as comfort food may be idiosyncratic, though patterns are detectable. In one study of American preferences, "males preferred warm, hearty, meal-related comfort foods (such as steak, casseroles, and soup), while females instead preferred comfort foods that were more snack related (such as chocolate and ice cream). In addition, younger people preferred more snack-related comfort foods compared to those over 55 years of age." The study also revealed strong connections between consumption of comfort foods and feelings of guilt. [5]

Comfort food consumption has been seen as a response to emotional stress, and consequently, as a key contributor to the epidemic of obesity in the United States. [6] The provocation of specific hormonal responses leading selectively to increases in abdominal fat is seen as a form of self-medication.[7]

Further studies suggest that consumption of comfort food is triggered in men by positive emotions, and by negative ones in women. [8] The stress effect is particularly pronounced among college-aged women, with only 33% reporting healthy eating choices during times of emotional stress[9] For women specifically, these psychological patterns may be maladaptive[10]

A therapeutic use of these findings includes offering comfort foods or "happy hour" beverages to anorectic geriatric patients whose health and quality of life otherwise decreases with reduced oral intake[11]

See also


References

  • "Comfort foods" by Rachael Ray (ISBN 1-891105-05-1)
  • "This Is Delicious! What Is It?: An Eclectic Collection of International Comfort Foods" by Robert Meyers-Lussier (ISBN 0-595-30505-9)
  1. ^ Wansink, Brian and Cynthia Sangerman (2000), “Engineering Comfort. Engineering Comfort Foods.[1]
  2. ^ "Comfort Food Goes Upscale: Top Chefs Injecting Luxury To Old-Fashioned Favorites". CBS News. 2005-08-28.
  3. ^ Elizabeth Andoh (1998-02-09). "Choice tables; Comfort Food, Japanese Style". New York Times.
  4. ^ Lochera, Julie L. et al Comfort Foods: An Exploratory Journey Into The Social and Emotional Significance of Food. Food and Foodways, Volume 13, Issue 4 October 2005 , pages 273 - 297 [2]
  5. ^ Wansink, Brian, et al Exploring comfort food preferences across age and gender. Physiology & Behavior [3]
  6. ^ Dallman, Mary F. et al. Chronic stress and obesity: A new view of “comfort food” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America [4]
  7. ^ Dallman, Mary F. et al Chronic stress and comfort foods: self-medication and abdominal obesity Brain, Behavior, and Immunity [5]
  8. ^ Dubé, Laurette, et al Affect asymmetry and comfort food consumption Physiology & Behavior [6]
  9. ^ KANDIAH Jayanthi, et al Stress influences appetite and comfort food preferences in college women Nutrition Research 2006, vol. 26, no3, pp. 118-123 [7]
  10. ^ LeBel, Jordan L. et al Weakened biological signals: Highly-developed eating schemas amongst women are associated with maladaptive patterns of comfort food consumption. Physiology & Behavior [8]
  11. ^ Wood, Paulette. Feeding the anorectic client: Comfort foods and happy hour. Geriatric Nursing Volume 19, Issue 4, Pages 192-194 (July 1998) [9]
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