Comfort food: A review

International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science

Volumn 9, Issue , 2017, Pages 105-109

  Spence, Charles ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Comfort food; Emotional eating; Loneliness; Mood; Nostalgia; Unhealthy eating

Indexed keywords

EID: 85028754078     PISSN: 1878450X     EISSN: 18784518     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijgfs.2017.07.001     Document Type: Review

References (65)

1. Adriaanse, M.A., Prinsen, S., de Witt Huberts, J.C., de Ridder, D.T.D., Evers, C., ‘I ate too much so I must have been sad’: emotions as a confabulated reason for overeating. Appetite 103 (2016), 318–323.
2. Addis, D.R., Leclerc, C.M., Muscatell, K.A., Kensinger, E.A., There are age-related changes in neural connectivity during the encoding of positive, but not negative, information. Cortex 46 (2010), 425–433.
3. Anon. (2005). Women like sugar, men like meat. USA Today, November 17th. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-11-17-comfort-foods_x.htm.
4. Apicius, C., 1st Century Vehling, J.D., (eds.) Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome, 1936, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
5. Birch, L.L., Zimmerman, S.I., Hind, H., The influence of social-affective context on the formation of children's food preferences. Child Dev. 51 (1980), 856–861.
6. Bongers, P., Jansen, A., Emotional eating is not what you think it is and emotional eating scales do not measure what you think they measure. Front. Psychol.: Eating Behav., 7, 2016, 1932.
7. Brown, N. (2016). The science of why we love comfort food: A sensory experience tied to memory. December 6th. https://www.fix.com/blog/why-is-comfort-food-so-tasty/.
8. Cardi, V., Leppanen, J., Treasure, J., The effects of negative and positive mood induction on eating behaviour: a meta-analysis of laboratory studies in the healthy population and eating and weight disorders. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 57 (2015), 299–309.
9. Dallman, M.F., Pecoraro, N., Akana, S.F., La Fleur, S.E., Gomez, F., Houshyar, H., Bell, M.E., Bhatnagar, S., Laugero, K.D., Manalo, S., Chronic stress and obesity: a new view of 'comfort food'. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100 (2003), 11696–11701.
10. Dallman, M.F., Pecoraro, N.C., La Fleur, S.E., Chronic stress and comfort foods: Self-medication and abdominal obesity. Brain, Behav. Immunity 19 (2005), 275–280.
11. Dess, N.K., Edelheit, D., The bitter with the sweet: the taste/stress/temperament nexus. Biol. Psychol. 48 (1998), 103–119.
12. Doré, L., The top ten comfort foods that cheer Britain up. The Independent, 2015 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/the-top-ten-comfort-foods-that-cheer-britain-up-10303269.html.
13. Dornenburg, A., Page, K., Culinary Artistry. 1996, John Wiley&Sons, New York, NY.
14. Drewnowski, A., Krahn, D.D., Demitrack, M.A., Nairn, K., Gosnell, B.A., Taste responses and preferences for sweet high-fat foods: evidence for opioid involvement. Physiol. Behav. 51 (1992), 371–379.
15. Dubé, L., LeBel, J., Lu, J., Affect asymmetry and comfort food consumption. Physiol. Behav. 86 (2005), 559–567.
16. Evers, C., Stok, F.M., de Ridder, D.T.D., Feeding your feelings: emotion regulation strategies and emotional eating. Personal. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 36 (2010), 792–804.
17. Fearnley-Whittingstall, H., What does comfort food mean to you?. The Guardian, 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/jan/18/what-does-comfort-food-mean-to-you.
18. Freedman, P., Spices and medieval cuisine. Korsmeyer, C., (eds.) The Taste Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink, 2nd Ed, 2016, Bloomsbury, Oxford, UK, 73–79.
19. Gallace, A., Spence, C., In Touch with the Future: The Sense of Touch from Cognitive Neuroscience to Virtual Reality. 2014, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
20. Gardner, M.P., Wansink, B., Kim, J., Park, S.-B., Better moods for better eating?: How mood influences food choice. J. Consum. Psychol. 24 (2014), 320–335.
21. Gibson, E.L., Emotional influences on food choice: sensory, physiological and psychological pathways. Physiol. Behav. 89 (2006), 53–61.
22. Goldstein, D., Remembrance of foods past. Gastronomica, 9, 2016, 4.
23. Grunberg, N., Straub, R., The role of gender and taste class in the effects of stress on eating. Health Psychol. 11 (1992), 97–100.
24. th http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3343868/Tea-soothes-a-troubled-mind-say-scientists.html.
25. Heath, T.P., Melichar, J.K., Nutt, D.J., Donaldson, L.F., Human taste thresholds are modulated by serotonin and noradrenaline. J. Neurosci. 26 (2006), 12664–12671.
26. Hirsch, A.R., Nostalgia: A Neuropsychiatric Understanding. Advances in Consumer Research, 1992, Association for Consumer Research, Provo, UT, 390–395.
27. Hoffman, J., The myth of comfort food. The New York Times, 2014 December 15th http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/15/the-myth-of-comfort-food/?_r=1.
28. Hughes, J.,&Hughes, D. (2007). Food, emotions, and the search for true nourishment: Unraveling our complex relationship with food: An interview with Geneen Roth. Share Guide. Retrieved from http://www.shareguide.com/RothGeneen.html.
29. Kandiah, J., Yake, M., Jones, J., Meyer, M., Stress influences appetite and comfort food preferences in college women. Nutr. Res. 26 (2006), 118–123.
30. Kassab, M., Sheehy, A., King, M., Fowler, C., Foureur, M., A double-blind randomised controlled trial of 25% oral glucose for pain relief in 2-month old infants undergoing immunisation. Int. J. Nurs. Stud. 49 (2012), 249–256.
31. Kupfermann, I., Eating behaviour induced by sounds. Nature, 201, 1964, 324.
32. LeBel, J., Lu, J., Dubé, L., Weakened biological signals: highly-developed eating schemas amongst women are associated with maladaptive patterns of comfort food consumption. Physiol. Behav. 94 (2008), 384–392.
33. Le Magnen, J., Hunger. 1986, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA.
34. Locher, J.L., Yoels, W.C., Maurer, D., Van Ells, J., Comfort foods: an exploratory journey into the social and emotional significance of food. Food Foodways 13 (2005), 273–297.
35. London, B., Are YOU a comfort eater? Take this quiz to discover what that cheeky glass of wine with your salad and afternoon coffee say about your emotions. Daily Mail Online, 2015 December 1st http://united-kingdom.voxquo.com/noticia-detalhe-media.asp?id=630938&t=Blogger-Janey-Hollidays-quiz-tells-you-if-youre-a-comfort-eater.
36. Macht, M., Mueller, J., Immediate effects of chocolate on experimentally induced mood states. Appetite 49 (2007), 667–674.
37. Markus, C.R., Panhuysen, G., Tuiten, A., Koppeschaar, H., Fekkes, D., Peters, M.L., Does carbohydrate-rich, protein-poor food prevent a deterioration of mood and cognitive performance of stress-prone subjects when subjected to a stressful task?. Appetite 31 (1998), 49–65.
38. Oliver, G., Wardle, J., Perceived effects of stress on food choice. Physiol. Behav. 66 (1999), 511–515.
39. Oliver, G., Wardle, J., Gibson, E.L., Stress and food choice: a laboratory study. Psychosom. Med. 62 (2000), 853–865.
40. Ong, L.S., IJzerman, H., Leung, A.K., Is comfort food really good for the soul? A replication of Troisi and Gabriel's (2011) Study 2. Front. Psychol., 6, 2015, 314.
41. Pollatos, O., Kopietz, R., Linn, J., Albrecht, J., Sakar, V., Anzinger, A., et al. Emotional stimulation alters olfactory sensitivity and odor judgment. Chem. Senses 32 (2007), 583–589.
42. Posner, M.I., Nissen, M.J., Klein, R.M., Visual dominance: an information-processing account of its origins and significance. Psychol. Rev. 83 (1976), 157–171.
43. Romm, C., Why comfort food comforts. The Atlantic, 2015 April 3rd http://www.webcitation.org/6XeO3Tlsm?url=http://www.salon.com/2011/06/23/comfort_food_psychology/.
44. Rufus, A., How comfort foods work like Prozac: the psychology behind why we turn to fatty staples like French fries and fried chicken when life gets rough. Gilt Taste, 2011 June 23rd http://www.webcitation.org/6XeO3Tlsm?url=http://www.salon.com/2011/06/23/comfort_food_psychology/.
45. Spence, C., A new multisensory approach to health and well-being. In Essence 2 (2003), 16–22.
46. Spence, C., The development and decline of multisensory flavour perception. Bremner, A.J., Lewkowicz, D., Spence, C., (eds.) Multisensory Development, 2012, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 63–87.
47. Spence, C., Eating with our ears: assessing the importance of the sounds of consumption to our perception and enjoyment of multisensory flavour experiences. Flavour, 4, 2015, 3.
48. Spence, C., Hospital food. Flavour, 6, 2017, 3.
49. Spence, C., Okajima, K., Cheok, A.D., Petit, O., Michel, C., Eating with our eyes: from visual hunger to digital satiation. Brain Cogn. 110 (2016), 53–63.
50. Spence, C., Piqueras-Fiszman, B., Oral-somatosensory contributions to flavor perception and the appreciation of food and drink. Piqueras-Fiszmanm, B., Spence, C., (eds.) Multisensory Flavor Perception: From Fundamental Neuroscience Through to the Marketplace, 2016, Elsevier, Duxford, CB, 59–79.
51. Spence, C., Shore, D.I., Klein, R.M., Multimodal prior entry. J. Exp. Psychol.: Gen. 130 (2001), 799–832.
52. Stein, K., Contemporary comfort foods: Bringing back old favorites. J. Am. Dietetic Assoc. 108 (2008), 412–414.
53. Steptoe, A., Gibson, E.L., Vuononvirta, R., Williams, E.D., Hamer, M., Rycroft, J.A., Erusalimsky, J.D., Wardle, J., The effects of tea on psychophysiological stress responsivity and post-stress recovery: a randomised double-blind trial. Psychopharmacology 190 (2007), 81–89.
54. Sutton, D.E., Remembrance of Repasts: An Anthropology of Food and Memory. 2001, Berg, Oxford, UK.
55. Telegraph Food (2015). What is our favourite comfort food? (Hint: it's not chocolate). The Telegraph, January 6th. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/11649148/What-is-Britains-favourite-comfort-food.html.
56. Troisi, J.D., Gabriel, S., Chicken soup really is good for the soul: “Comfort food” fulfils the need to belong. Psychol. Sci. 22 (2011), 747–753.
57. Troisi, J.D., Gabriel, S., Derrick, J.L., Geisler, A., Threatened belonging and preference for confort food among the securely attached. Appetite 90 (2015), 58–64.
58. Tweedy, J. (2015). How dining at the Fat Duck saved a couple from divorce: Heston reveals warring lovers were reunited after eating 'nostalgic' meal. Daily Mail Online, December 16th. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3362700/Heston-Blumenthal-says-dining-Fat-Duck-saved-couple-divorce.html.
59. Van Oudenhove, L., McKie, S., Lassman, D., Uddin, B., Paine, P., Coen, S., et al. Fatty acid–induced gut-brain signaling attenuates neural and behavioral effects of sad emotion in humans. J. Clin. Investig. 121 (2011), 3094–3099.
60. Wagner, H.S., Ahlstrom, B., Redden, J.P., Vickers, Z., Mann, T., The myth of comfort food. Health Psychol. 33 (2014), 1552–1557.
61. Wansink, B., Cheney, M., Chan, N., Exploring comfort food preferences across age and gender. Physiol. Behav. 79 (2003), 739–747.
62. Wansink, B., Sangerman, C., Engineering comfort foods. Am. Demogr., 2000, 66–67 July.
63. Westermann, R., Spies, K., Stahl, G., Hesse, F.W., Relative effectiveness and validity of mood induction procedures: a metaanalysis. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 26 (1996), 557–580.
64. Williams, L.E., Bargh, J.A., Experiencing physical warmth promotes interpersonal warmth. Science 322 (2008), 606–607.
65. Wood, P., Vogen, B.D., Feeding the anorectic client: comfort foods and happy hour. Geriatr. Nurs. 19:4 (1998), 192–194.