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When food makes you feel good
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People who starve themselves of carbohydrates and fats while on a diet have a high risk of becoming depressed
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“Comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.”
The Song of Solomon
What is the food you reach for when you are blue? Some prefer simple home-cooked food: dal and rice with a dollop of ghee, for example. Others pamper their bellies with exotic restaurant fare. Chocolates, ice-cream and cakes are universal favourites.
Some like food that remind them of happier times in childhood: cotton candy, for example.
Every culture has its own unique set of “soul” foods. Nevertheless, there are a few universal attributes. For one thing, comfort food is filling. A warmly-packed belly induces contentment. Extra helpings turn even humble fare into comfort food.
Fat is a common ingredient. Butter, ghee, cream, cheese, oil, lard and even the fat on meat are prime players. It is the fat that makes fried potatoes, meat, biryani, omelettes, samosas, mirchis, namkeen snacks, and hot jalebis so comforting. The comfort quotient of a sweet depends on its fat content, which is why almond burfi is more soothing than a laddu.
Importance of fat
There are many reasons why fat pleases us so predictably. Evolution has primed our minds and bodies to crave for it because fat is the most energy-dense food and is a vital component of every cell. Beginning with that special feel of butter rolling off the tongue, and ending with the satiety induced by cholecystokinin-a fat-triggerd hormone, fatty foods trigger psychological and biochemical responses that tranquilise, trigger pleasure, and induce feelings of well being. This is also why fatty foods find use as aphrodisiacs.
Carbohydrate, the other great soul food. Ever wonder why rice or sugar is so comforting? Bread and pasta have a similar role in the West. The insulin released after a carbohydrate meal pushes glucose into cells and also affects the amino acids in blood. According to one theory, this leads to increased levels of tryptophan and serotonin in the brain and elevates mood.
Comfort foods trigger release of endogenous opiates that increase the threshold for pain and elevate mood. People who starve themselves of carbohydrates and fat while on a diet have a high risk of becoming depressed.
Most comfort foods are calorie-rich. Finding emotional support in a box of chocolates is not healthy if done too often. When food becomes an emotional crutch, it is time to re-examine your life in depth. Preferably over a bowl of salad.
RAJIV. M
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