You know the cliché: Boy breaks girl's heart, girl breaks out the half-gallon of double-fudge ice cream. Bad news: A rough day may only be a convenient excuse to grab a spoon—not a way to truly soothe a broken heart. New University of Minnesota research, presented at the recent Association for Psychological Science meeting, suggests that chowing down on comfort foods may not help you recover any faster when you feel sad.
Everybody's go-to comfort food is different, so the researchers started by asking people what munchies make them feel better when they're in a bad mood. Then they asked them to name a few foods they really enjoy—but that wouldn't lift their spirits.
The next step: Have people watch a bummer of a movie for 20 minutes, measure their mood immediately after, give them either their preferred comfort food, another food they liked, a granola bar, or no snack at all, and then assess their mood a second time. What happened? The movie viewers experienced a mood boost regardless of what food they ate. The scientists also found that comfort foods were no more effective at remedying the blues than not eating at all.
So why does a heaping bowl of ice cream seem like it makes you feel so damn good? It may simply be the healing power of time, the researchers say. Read: In the 15 minutes it takes you to down half the container, you're able to bounce back—not because of the ice cream per se, but because you've allowed yourself the time necessary to distance yourself from the negative mood. And chowing down—whether on brownies or celery sticks—simply won't accelerate that process of emotional healing.
However, the scientists say this doesn't explain whether comfort foods help us deal with very specific types of negative mood, such as social stress (e.g., you don't feel like you belong in a group). Future research will assess this effect.
For now, though, it's best to avoid raiding the freezer when you're bummed—and to learn these healthier ways to cope with a bad mood:
8 Ways to De-Stress Your Life
Stress-Relief Tips for Instant Calm!
8 Times to Reduce Tension Throughout the Day
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