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How Comfort Food Stops Stress Cold
When you're stressed, what do you do to assuage it?
a. Take a hot bubble bath
b. Eat a big bowl of ice cream
c. Take a long walk
If you chose "b," there's a good reason. It works. When we eat high-fat, high-carbohydrate comfort foods, it really does stop what can be an out-of-control hormonal cascade caused by stress, USA Today reports of new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
There's just one little problem: Do this too often and you'll get fat.
This is how it works, according to USA Today. When you experience short-term stress, it ignites your body's "fight or flight" reaction. That boosts your adrenalin, speeds up your heart, and opens up your lungs. Your immune system is primed. When the danger has passed, your body secretes steroid hormones that bring your immune system back to normal, while other steroids are secreted to stop the hormones that kicked into gear during the stressful period. All this is normal. What's not normal is when those steroid levels become elevated during chronic, ongoing stress and don't switch off. In fact, they increase. The result? Your immune system is overloaded and that makes you more vulnerable to infections, anxiety, depression, obesity, and coronary disease.
Eating, especially indulging in comfort foods, sends a signal to your body that all is well again. ''It's your body telling your brain, 'Things are getting better. Calm down,'" study co-author Norman Pecoraro told USA Today.
While scientists recognize that a candy bar can stop the stress, what they don't know is how it works. What is the specific metabolic signal that calms the stress and soothes the soul? Because they don't know the answer to that question, they also don't know if you can inadvertently do something else that might negate the effects of comfort food. For example, if you eat a candy bar and then go for a jog, will the candy still stop the hormones your body is producing in response to chronic stress?
It's a no-brainer to realize that if you curb the stress with cookies and candy too often, you'll get fat--possibly even obese. And that can lead to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even stroke.
So the takeaway is this: Go ahead and eat a candy bar to calm the occasional stress, but don't make it a daily habit.
When you're stressed, what do you do to assuage it?
a. Take a hot bubble bath
b. Eat a big bowl of ice cream
c. Take a long walk
If you chose "b," there's a good reason. It works. When we eat high-fat, high-carbohydrate comfort foods, it really does stop what can be an out-of-control hormonal cascade caused by stress, USA Today reports of new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
There's just one little problem: Do this too often and you'll get fat.
This is how it works, according to USA Today. When you experience short-term stress, it ignites your body's "fight or flight" reaction. That boosts your adrenalin, speeds up your heart, and opens up your lungs. Your immune system is primed. When the danger has passed, your body secretes steroid hormones that bring your immune system back to normal, while other steroids are secreted to stop the hormones that kicked into gear during the stressful period. All this is normal. What's not normal is when those steroid levels become elevated during chronic, ongoing stress and don't switch off. In fact, they increase. The result? Your immune system is overloaded and that makes you more vulnerable to infections, anxiety, depression, obesity, and coronary disease.
Eating, especially indulging in comfort foods, sends a signal to your body that all is well again. ''It's your body telling your brain, 'Things are getting better. Calm down,'" study co-author Norman Pecoraro told USA Today.
While scientists recognize that a candy bar can stop the stress, what they don't know is how it works. What is the specific metabolic signal that calms the stress and soothes the soul? Because they don't know the answer to that question, they also don't know if you can inadvertently do something else that might negate the effects of comfort food. For example, if you eat a candy bar and then go for a jog, will the candy still stop the hormones your body is producing in response to chronic stress?
It's a no-brainer to realize that if you curb the stress with cookies and candy too often, you'll get fat--possibly even obese. And that can lead to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even stroke.
So the takeaway is this: Go ahead and eat a candy bar to calm the occasional stress, but don't make it a daily habit.