Comfort Eating as a Long-Term Path to Happiness
In today’s lipophobic world, the phrase “comfort eating” has gloomy connotations. In fact, comfort eating was recently (at the time of writing!) added to the influential U.S Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The comfort eater is a drop-out. The comfort eater is weak; the comfort eater is lazy. The comfort eater is a drug addict. The comfort eater can’t cope with the real world and so finds solace in their fatty fantasy world of food. As a social anthropologist, I find these preconceptions interesting. Food, with the sole exception of drinking, is the human urge most essential to our survival. Is it really so weak to turn to our ultimate life source in our moments of weakness?
However philosophically ridiculous as the demonisation of comfort eating is, my primary issue is to do with biology. The exact biological mechanisms behind the success of comfort eating are still unclear. Lucas Van Oudenhove, M.D, has suggested that it could be to do with the stomach secreting hormones such as endorphins which cause feel-good chemicals to be produced in the brain. Other experts believe that it is more to do with the sugar content of the food, which raises blood-sugar levels. Whatever the truth, one thing is clear: evolution has primed us for comfort eating.
In fact, a recent study suggests that the truth behind comfort eating runs deeper than the hedonistic gratification of the sense of taste. A research team at the University of New South Wales in Australia investigated the effects of fat intake by removing some mice from their litters to induce mild stress. Half of the rats were given “comfort foods” including chocolate and Chinese food, whilst others were given “healthy” food. Unsurprisingly, those which had been given the comfort foods showed lower levels of stress hormones – even in the long-term. The same effect seems to be present in humans. In a study by Mary Dallman, PhD, it was found that women who had more abdominal fat were less likely to experience symptoms of chronic stress. However, it does not seem to be the taste which causes this. Although the experiment has not been replicated in humans, rats exhibited the same decrease in stress when injected with fat.
There is no known explanation – in conventional science. From the perspective of a Fatercist, of course, the reason for this improvement is clear: the placation of the Permanence. Very few people would deny that comfort eating feels good at the moment of eating. However, many argue that it is a short-term fix – like a drug, the temporary high is followed by even deeper depression. This seems to be supported by the various studies which have found higher rates of depression amongst the obese – especially in women. Does this mean comfort eating is nothing more than a temporary fix used in place of long-term solutions to problems?
It seems highly unlikely to me. The fact that women show a stronger correlation between obesity and depression is, to me, the most telling sign that social stigmas are more to blame than any genuine biological effect. In the majority of the modern western world, “overweight” women are scorned more than overweight men. By contrast, in many countries like Hawaii, women are actually viewed as more attractive if they are overweight. I am not aware of any studies investigating this, but I would be willing to bet a large amount of money that the obesity-depression correlation would be reversed in such cultures.
The fact is, comfort eating is something which is very rarely found in life – a solution in both the long-term and the short-term. In the short-term, endorphins released by many comfort foods such as chocolate promotes a positive mood. In a culture with the proper mindset, the guilt and anxiety which often comes after comfort eating would not be present. And let us not forget the ultimate benefit of comfort eating: the placation of the Permanence and the end of all destructive emotions.
By Guru Heather Marshall
However philosophically ridiculous as the demonisation of comfort eating is, my primary issue is to do with biology. The exact biological mechanisms behind the success of comfort eating are still unclear. Lucas Van Oudenhove, M.D, has suggested that it could be to do with the stomach secreting hormones such as endorphins which cause feel-good chemicals to be produced in the brain. Other experts believe that it is more to do with the sugar content of the food, which raises blood-sugar levels. Whatever the truth, one thing is clear: evolution has primed us for comfort eating.
In fact, a recent study suggests that the truth behind comfort eating runs deeper than the hedonistic gratification of the sense of taste. A research team at the University of New South Wales in Australia investigated the effects of fat intake by removing some mice from their litters to induce mild stress. Half of the rats were given “comfort foods” including chocolate and Chinese food, whilst others were given “healthy” food. Unsurprisingly, those which had been given the comfort foods showed lower levels of stress hormones – even in the long-term. The same effect seems to be present in humans. In a study by Mary Dallman, PhD, it was found that women who had more abdominal fat were less likely to experience symptoms of chronic stress. However, it does not seem to be the taste which causes this. Although the experiment has not been replicated in humans, rats exhibited the same decrease in stress when injected with fat.
There is no known explanation – in conventional science. From the perspective of a Fatercist, of course, the reason for this improvement is clear: the placation of the Permanence. Very few people would deny that comfort eating feels good at the moment of eating. However, many argue that it is a short-term fix – like a drug, the temporary high is followed by even deeper depression. This seems to be supported by the various studies which have found higher rates of depression amongst the obese – especially in women. Does this mean comfort eating is nothing more than a temporary fix used in place of long-term solutions to problems?
It seems highly unlikely to me. The fact that women show a stronger correlation between obesity and depression is, to me, the most telling sign that social stigmas are more to blame than any genuine biological effect. In the majority of the modern western world, “overweight” women are scorned more than overweight men. By contrast, in many countries like Hawaii, women are actually viewed as more attractive if they are overweight. I am not aware of any studies investigating this, but I would be willing to bet a large amount of money that the obesity-depression correlation would be reversed in such cultures.
The fact is, comfort eating is something which is very rarely found in life – a solution in both the long-term and the short-term. In the short-term, endorphins released by many comfort foods such as chocolate promotes a positive mood. In a culture with the proper mindset, the guilt and anxiety which often comes after comfort eating would not be present. And let us not forget the ultimate benefit of comfort eating: the placation of the Permanence and the end of all destructive emotions.
By Guru Heather Marshall