Comfort Foods as a Survival Response

Survival of the fittest is surely a term that everyone has heard. Eating comfort foods can be equated with the animal instinct to eat high-energy food in order to survive. It is kill or be killed in their world. This instinct is great for those that live in regions of the world that have wars, epidemics, and chronic food shortages because they need to seek out high-energy foods for their survival.

Our bodies handle stress in very similar ways. Our body is not designed to tell the difference between different stressors, so by default it is designed to try to survive and seek out food. This is where comfort food comes into play. In order to shut off the element of stress many will seek out comfort foods. Comfort food will vary for everyone, but it is typically something that the person enjoys and has a high carbohydrate or fat content. You can fill in the blank.

Everyone has some form of stress; we just all handle it differently. Stress could come from your spouse, your children, your job, being cut off in traffic, etc. Unfortunately we need to teach our body that we are not starving when we are under daily stress. This is the only way that we will stop relying on comfort food. Elevated stress levels in our body can cause many effects on the body: a loss or gain of weight, depression, and obesity.

There are other ways to treat chronic stress outside of food. These can include exercise, yoga, meditation, and sex which can all trigger the pleasure region of the brain. On top of this, the relaxation techniques can teach you to reduce your reaction to stress. Keep in mind that drugs and alcohol do not help with stress, but can actually stimulate more stress. Seeking out comfort food may not be a reaction that everyone can curb though, so changing what your comfort food is may help with this.

Chocolate

Do you seek out chocolate as your comfort food? If so, know that not all chocolate is bad for you and dark chocolate actually has some heart healthy benefits. So, replace that Snickers Bar or M&Ms with some healthy dark chocolate. A small bit of dark chocolate will typically alleviate your desire for chocolate very quickly, so you can eat less and get health benefits.

Chips

Do you seek out potato chips as your comfort food? If so, you could just have a need for something crunchy. Try having some carrot sticks, celery, or almonds. These are obviously healthy alternatives.

Carbohydrates

Do you seek out high carb foods like French fries as your comfort food? If so, satisfy the need with something like a baked potato with low-fat butter. With a healthy, balanced diet a baked potato is not a bad idea.

Understanding how the need for comfort food works is the first step towards overcoming. We are smart enough to know that we are not starving, so we need to make sure that we do not let stress override this knowledge. Find a new stress reducing method outside of comfort foods.

Comfort-Food Cravings May be Body's Attempt To Put Brake On Chronic Stress. Science Daily. 11 September 2003. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030911072109.htm