Comfort eating doesn’t mean eating to enjoy. Eating a piece of birthday cake at your friend’s party, even though eating the cake makes you feel happy as you are part of the general fun of the celebration. The problem arises when you try to capture the feeling associated with a party by eating party food even when you are not celebrating anything which actually means comfort eating.
Studies have shown that there is a physical side to the link between food and emotions, for example: when you are low on blood sugar and hungry, you tend to feel pretty terrible. This actually varies from person to person. When comfort eating comes in that shows we use food as a way to help us feel better when we feel low, tired, stressed, irritable, upset, anxiety or any other reasons.
Eating obviously is a pleasure for children and grownups where parents often use it as a tool to help their children learn. This is one of the most comforting tool and an excellent way of showing love. Generally we feel like eating comfort foods when we feel tired, irritable, stressed or upset for some reason.
We use food as a way to help us feel better and happier. Here it’s not hunger which is the actual cause of our indulging in comfort foods. Comfort eating is a common problem especially when it comes to weight loss. The classic example could be a stereotype of a woman who has been dumped by her lover and who turns to ice cream and chocolate as a consolation – eating her heart out.
Men do it too, of course! Foods and emotions go hand in hand. Researches have shown that comfort food cravings like any food preference are in part physiological. Studies have shown that comfort foods have been credited to improving mood, reducing loneness and cherishing childhood memories.
Many of us are comforted by the warmth, hearty foods while others prefer snack type comfort foods. For example, if you are suffering with cold or having a bad sore throat, many of us like to drink a hot spicy soup as we associate it with healing. Fried foods are the ultimate comfort foods that many love to indulge with when they need to be comforted.
You will find several groups of people having comfort foods such as Overweight or obese people Emotional eaters Binge eaters Mindless eaters Popular comforting foods are French fries, chicken roast, peanut butter, cheese, chocolates, ice-creams, pies, muffins, burgers, pizzas etc.
There are amazing solutions that you can practice to stop emotional eating. It just takes a little practice and finding new creative ways to calm and soothe you. The main goal should be to identify non-eating behavior practices as comforting and get active in other activities. VahChef Sanjay Thumma Do look out for your favorite and many more yummy, appetizing and exotic recipes at: www.vahrehvah.com
Enjoy cooking and timely eating healthy foods to stay hale and hearty. Always remember that: “VahrehVah is all about inspiring others to cook”!