The ultimate formula for comfort food
A bowl of ramen or a large plate of pasta with meaty sauce, an entire tub of ice cream or a grilled cheese sandwich dripping with cheese. Food brings comfort, and the term comfort food is thrown around all the time, but when is something truly comfort food? Researchers at Yale University have figured it out for you.
The answer? It’s all about the fat-to-carbohydrate ratio. Everything categorized as comfort food (pizza, chocolate, ice cream) has one important factor in common: it has a fat-to-carbohydrate ratio of approximately 1:2. Apparently, that magical number makes food completely irresistible.
Research at Yale University shows that as soon as a dish has this ultimate ratio, a synergistic effect takes place in our brains. This means that we experience the food as being better than the sum of its parts. And that’s true, right? Dough is delicious, tomato sauce is delicious and mozzarella is delicious, but when you put a good slice of pizza in your mouth, it’s so much better than everything separately.
Dopamine
Participants in the study were willing to pay three times as much for food that met this requirement, compared with food that contained only fat or carbohydrates. Food that falls into the comfort food category causes dopamine to be released, a chemical in our brains that we associate with reward. Dopamine is also released when you receive a compliment, use drugs or when someone likes your photo on Instagram. So that’s why you feel better when you eat that chocolate bar.
Chocolate
Chocolate is a special case, by the way. Research shows that it has effects on the brain just as powerful as nicotine and alcohol. As soon as you eat it, you immediately want more. Raise your hand if you recognize this.
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