Comfort food is a myth, science finds

Reaching for a pint of Ben and Jerry’s at the end of a rough day? Don’t bother.

According to a new study published in Health Psychology, comfort food is a myth.

Not only do “comfort foods” fail to lift moods more than other foods, their impact on mood is no greater than that of just sitting quietly and skipping the binge altogether.

"Negative moods naturally dissipate over time," writes the University of Minnesota research team. “Individuals may be giving comfort food ‘credit’ for mood effects that would have occurred even in the absence of the comfort food.”

In a series of experiments, groups of undergraduate students totalling 100 participants watched 18-minute videos designed to elicit “feelings of anger, fear, anxiety and/or sadness.”

At one session, the students filled out a questionnaire that helped reveal their mood, then were given three minutes to eat one of their previously self-described comfort foods, like chocolate, ice cream or cookies, or a favourite non-comfort food, like almonds or cashews.

At another session, participants were given a neutral food like a granola bar. And at another session, the students were told to sit in silence for three minutes, eating nothing.

In all of the experiments, the students filled out another mood questionnaire after the three minutes were up.

"Participants’ moods improved over time," the researchers report, adding, “this happened to the same extent regardless of which type of food they ate, or whether they at any food at all.”

They found that comfort foods had no noticeable impact on mood, regardless of portion or belief that it would make the participant feel better.

The researchers hope the study will make people think twice before reaching for the mac and cheese.

"We found no justification for people to choose comfort foods when they are distressed," the researchers conclude. “Removing an excuse for eating a high-calorie or high-fat food may help people develop and maintain healthier eating habits, and may lead them to focus on other, food-free methods of improving their mood.”

An earlier study found that stressed women burned fewer comfort-food calories than their more mellow peers. And other research suggests that diets high in junk food are associated with higher rates of mental illness.

A poor diet, no matter how tasty, can also set us up for a cycle of highs and lows.

"There can be a bit of a vicious cycle," David Ludwig, a professor of pediatrics and nutrition at Harvard University and a researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital tells NPR. “When we feel stressed we seek foods that are going to comfort us immediately, but often times those foods lead to surges and crashes in hormones and blood sugar that increase our susceptibility to new stresses.”

Here’s some good-mood good news: when we’re feeling good — and expecting that good mood to stick around for a while — we’re less likely to reach for the bad stuff.

“When you’re in a good mood, you take a longer-term perspective,” Meryl Gardner, a marketing professor at the University of Delaware, tells the Atlantic. “You see the forest, not the trees… When you’re focused on the near term, when you’re looking at what’s in front of your nose, you respond with what’s going to give you quick pleasure. And that’s triggered very much by bad moods. But we can fight that.”

If we’re aware that good foods can actually set us up for good moods, we might be more inclined to reach for the fruits and vegetables.

"Some of my research leads me to change my habits, and this one has," Penn State psychology professor Dr. Helen Hendy says. “I have a big meeting [in two days], so today I’m going to watch my calories, my sodium, and my saturated fat, so I can hopefully have a chance to be in a good mood.”

So if those trusty standbys, sugar and carbs, aren’t going to make us feel better, what will?

Maintaining a stable blood sugar helps prevent mood swings, so eat regularly and don’t skip breakfast.

Consume foods with healthy omega-3 fats, shown to be effective in treating depression and tryptophan, an amino acid found in milk and turkey that your body uses to make serotonin - the feel-good chemical.

Also on the menu for good moods: vitamin D, magnesium, zinc and plenty of protein. (Yet another reason to eat Greek yogurt.)

And while chocolate ice cream might not do your bad day any good, dark chocolate still has a place in a happy diet. One study found that cocoa flavanols can help boost mood and cognitive performance.

What’s your comfort food of choice?