What is Comfort Food?

What’s Comfort Food?

 

When it comes to comfort food there is truly no right or wrong answer. The definition will be established by whoever is answering the question. This is due to the fact that every single person has his or her own taste in food.

 

To give you a better idea though, comfort food is any food that makes a person feels comfortable or good. It refers to any food that will improve the emotional state of a person; whether they were feeling down or upset, comfort food will soothe their state of mind.

 

Many people find their comfort food to be perhaps homemade meals; they’re usually food that reminds them of their childhood years when mom would cook that phenomenal steak or that magnificent breaded chicken with mashed potatoes. Other people find comfort in consuming very healthy meals, preferably organic food that doesn’t contain any type of additives or artificial colors.

 

As you see, there is truly no right or wrong answers on what can be considered comfort food. If you do a quick research online, you will find that many people will state perhaps French fries, ice cream, meat loaf, or even macaroni and cheese are comfort food. Yes, they can be considered comfort food to some people but not to others. It all depends on the taste and the background of the person that is feeling upset.

 

There have been studies that have categorized comfort food into four different divisions, which are indulgence, physical, nostalgic, and convenience foods. Overall most people tend to choose the type of food that is not the healthiest for the body. Patterns have also been detected when it comes to men and women; some of the studies have shown that men tend to choose warm and vigorous meals such as steak, while women tend to choose snacks such as ice cream.

 

Patterns have also been detected in different age groups; children are more likely to choose snacks such as chocolate while people that are 55 and up tend to chose meals such as mashed potatoes and chicken.

 

Further studies have been able to associate guilt and overeating with the consumption of comfort food. This applies to the people that tend to consume food that is high in fat and carbohydrates and that are not as healthy as other meals. That is why this is considered to be one of the causes of the high levels of obesity in the United States.

 

Some nutritionists have stated that they have hope that the eating habits in the US and the world will change soon. More people have started to realize that the consumption of organic meals can prevent many diseases in the long run. There has also been an increase in people wanting to consume green products. As a matter of fact there is a large group of people that find their comfort food to be those that pose no harm to their health.