Comfort Food vs. Healthy Food

Comfort food is closely intertwined with society and well-being but why do we so commonly include food deep into our society and into our personal relationships? Troisi and Gabriel talk about how important feelings of loneliness and connected-ness are and why comfort food acts as a "social surrogate" or as a substitute for social experience. But we make that substitute because we want the feeling of belonging that those social situations give us. So why do we always turn to unhealthy foods high in carbohydrates, fats and sodium?

Hendy brings in the fact that our eating in cycles makes us feel better or worse in two-day cycles so if we eat poorly today, right now, we wont necessarily feel bad until 48 hours later. Also, that unhealthy foods high in carbs, fats and salts make us feel worse that healthy alternatives but possibly better at the time of eating them. This doesn't help lonely or sad people because they may feel better immediately with unhealthy comfort foods but two days later they'll feel physically poorly and that can lead to emotional unhappiness. If healthy alternatives and keeping a restrained diet make us feel better in the long run should we be eating healthy constantly to maintain a consistently happy mood? I think so!

But baked goods are a favorite and they're high in fats (think butter, crisco) and carbohydrates (flour is a primary base for many) and they are, if well prepared, anchored in our society as delicacy with famous and time consuming pastries, bakers and bakeries. So does that mean that since they aren't healthy they'll make you feel emotionally and physically unhealthy? I don't think so! This is where portion sizes should probably come in, right? Obviously, an entire cake will probably make you sick but a slice or individual cupcake can really raise your spirits and complement a great meal.

In general then, when done correctly and when portioned well all foods have their time and their place to excite and make you happy. Right? Or should we all eat healthy all the time and feel better? What is healthy? What's healthy to some might be gross to another. There's different levels of healthy too: moderation is key. We also have to ask ourselves questions about what we're eating to see why we're eating it. But those questions are different to everyone, what are they to you and how often do you actually ask yourself about what you're eating?