Whether it’s chicken and dumplings, lasagna, or chocolate chip cookies, we all have foods that we turn to when we need a little extra support. Maybe we saddle up with a bowl of our favorite soup when we’re feeling under the weather or munch on a yummy childhood snack in front of the computer when we have to work late.  

Comfort foods provide just that: comfort and every human society has had its go-to favorites.

We can’t know for sure how long comfort foods have been around, but for much of human history, we’ve been relying on them. However, it’s less likely that hunter-gatherers turned to comfort foods because food availability was more in question, says Charles Spence, an experimental psychologist who has studied the science of comfort foods at the University of Oxford. 

The Basics of Comfort Food

According to a 2017 review Spence published in the International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, a comfort food is defined as “those foods whose consumption provides consolation or a feeling of well-being.” In other words, we turn to them when life gets tough. 

“Comfort foods provide emotional security and positive nostalgia,” says Spence. These are likely foods that we harken back to and were likely given as a child by our caretaker.

Sentimentality can provide us with an extra boost when our emotions feel threatened. You might recall that during the COVID-19 pandemic when many of us felt the threat of imminent disease, we filled our pantries with any number of nostalgic foods.

Spence adds that in Western culture, females tend to crave the sweet end of the spectrum, like ice cream and chocolates, and males the more energy-dense savory foods, like mac n’ cheese and chicken soup.

Read More: Top 5 Comfort Foods To Get You Through The Day

Why We Crave Certain Flavors

These foods likely have some importance to us because when we hunted and gathered, bitter and sour foods would have been an indication of something that was poisonous. We crave things like sweets and fattening, energy-dense foods because when we didn’t know where our next meal was coming from, the more calories we consumed, the better.

“The energy from a sweet treat is what you should be reaching for if you have to run at high speeds away from a predator,” says Spence.

It’s also why stressed rats crave sweeter tastes, according to an August 2019 study published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. We might also crave umami foods, one of the five basic tastes found in foods like parmesan cheese, monosodium glutamate (MSG), and soy sauce, because it’s a flavor that often signals protein, another food that was, from an evolutionary perspective, important to early human survival. 

While early humans wouldn’t have necessarily craved spicy foods (things like ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg), they too have a purpose in that they can warm us up when we’re feeling chilled in the winter time, providing temperature comfort rather than that of psychological support.

Read More: The Neuroscience of Emotional Eating

Are Comfort Foods Healthy? 

The problem with comfort foods in Western culture is that they are often highly processed and filled with fat and sugar. It’s one thing to turn to comfort foods once in a while, and it’s entirely another to be an emotional eater who uses them as a crutch. Research published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience found that emotional eaters likely get more out of comfort foods than the average person — they think the food actually tastes better. 

And if we’re overly dependent on comfort food instead of healthier ways for dealing with negative emotions — like getting exercise, meditation, or seeking professional help — they can cause us to gain weight and negatively impact overall health. 

Comfort foods do have a psychological purpose, or it’s unlikely that we would have depended on them for so long. But if you’re turning to them too often, you might reevaluate whether you need another emotional support tool or at least healthier comfort foods. 

Read More: Sugar’s Bad Rep Is Worse Than The Sweet Stuff Itself

Article Sources:

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Sara Novak is a science journalist based in South Carolina. In addition to writing for Discover, her work appears in Scientific American, Popular Science, New Scientist, Sierra Magazine, Astronomy Magazine, and many more. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia. She’s also a candidate for a master’s degree in science writing from Johns Hopkins University, (expected graduation 2023).