Eat comfort food without full helping of guilt Posted on May 11th
You keep childhood memories close to your heart—and your stomach. Food accompanies events you wistfully remember: hot dogs at ballgames, cake at birthday parties, candy at the movies.
“Comfort foods are favorite foods that memories are made of,” says Toby Smithson, president of the Illinois Dietetic Association and community dietitian for the Lake County (Ill.) Health Department. But foods that satisfy you emotionally may not fulfill you nutritionally.
“It’s important to distinguish between a biological craving and an emotional craving,” says Smithson. A biological craving hits when you’re physiologically hungry. It intensifies over time. Nothing satisfies the craving except the craved food; your body is trying to tell you what it needs. An emotional craving abates in time (though the emotion may not). If you distract yourself, you’ll forget the craving. Those cravings for the Fluffernutter from your Scooby-Doo lunch box are emotional; your body is not screaming, “Eat Fluff!”
“If you have a true craving, go ahead and satisfy it,” encourages Smithson, who says that if you don’t, you’ll just keep eating. She maintains that you can give in to both emotional and biological cravings. “But make any modifications you can that will make a healthier choice,” she urges.
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