If comfort food is bad for you but being happy is good for you, does that balanc

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   Earl S. Wynnposted 13 years ago

   If comfort food is bad for you but being happy is good for you, does that balance it out?

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   Deborah Brooksposted 13 years ago

   I wish it would balance it out. but the sad news is no. When you are young you can eat comfort food but eventually it will catch up with you..  My favorite is Chicken and dumplings... I love fried chicken..mash potatoes..anything fattening..

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   debbie robertsposted 13 years ago

   Without a doubt. Comfort food helps get us through tough times and the winter. Probably more to do with the amount we eat that isn't good for us!!

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   swb64posted 13 years ago

   If you feel like comfort food try find fruit you love, comfort food's usually sweet and gives a boost to that feel good factor. If folks must eat sweet then do try exercise otherwise - as previously stated - it will damage your health.

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   bell du jourposted 13 years ago

   I think it does balance it out a little.......as they saying goes 'a little of what you fancy does you good' :-)

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   DanielNeffposted 13 years ago

   I would say to a degree that it does. While some aspects of comfort food might not contribute to optimal health, there is a lot more to good health than eating, exclusively, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Attitude and emotional health are just as important to a robust immune system as nutrients in food.
   Take it from someone who almost died from cancer and had to walk away from conventional medicine and turn to an alternative to survive (11 years now). While nutrition was a large part of my recovery (seemingly contradicting what I have said above LOL), inner healing and learning to deal with disappointment and unforgiveness toward others was also paramount.
   I don't think you want to live on comfort food, but occasionally it is fine.
   Of course, a qualifier to all this is what you are categorizing as comfort food. IMO, and through my experience with cancer and nutrition, I would say that sugar and white flour are very harmful to good health, but animal fat and meat are fine taken in moderation.
   I wrote a book about my experience with cancer and everything I learned about nutrition. If you are interested in finding out more, visit my profile.

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   athena2011posted 13 years ago

   Not sure if there's any way to know the answer to this one for sure. I would say that if you eat comfort food only on a limited basis then you should be okay.
   
   Maybe at the moment it balances out but I don't think it would if you did this too often over a period of time.

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   Moon Daisyposted 13 years ago

   I think it does!  At least to some extent.  (Obviously some other food is good too).

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   BobBrownposted 13 years ago

   Comfort food does not have to be bad for you. Even items like chocolate have anti-oxidants. Sugar and salt are required by the human body. It's not about what you eat, but how much of it you eat. Almost any type of food, even junk food, has some positive nutrition advantages when eaten in moderation. Too much of a good thing is not a good thing!

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    robie2posted 13 years ago

    Food is not a moral issue-- at least not usually-- and "good" and "bad"  just don't compute.  Of course " comfort food" definitely does compute and brings to mind things like Mac and cheese,apple pie a la mode, and my all time personal favorite, pb&j with a glass of milk........comfort foods bring order to the world, calm me down and make me feel taken care of--They can also pack on the pounds but so what-- once comforted I am happy to go back to fish and salad and 10,000 steps a day. It's all a question of choices dontchaknow.  There are no bad foods and what gives you comfort is almost always good IMHO.  Pass the mac and cheese would you?

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    CarolineChicagoposted 13 years ago

    As Julia Child would say: Everything in moderation.
    
    Sometimes if you are really sad and depressed--or totally stressed out--your favorite comfort food might help out. Maybe the comfort you derive from eating it brings down your blood pressure (but I'm definitely not involved in the medical profession, this is just a guess).
    
    Unfortunately, the short term benefit is outweighed in the long term by the bad effects of a fattening comfort food. You can try to balance away the bad effects right on your plate: If you are craving mashed potatoes (my ultimate comfort food), then have them with a lean meat and a green veggie that is full of fiber.  And watch your serving sizes.

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    pstraubie48posted 13 years ago

    of course it does ...unless you need 'comforting' on a daily basis.
    comfort food works kind of like this: you buy ice cream, cookies, a pizza, and a large bottle of diet soda because the diet soda cancels out all of the other over-indulgences.....

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    RGNestleposted 13 years ago

    It all balances out by being balanced.
    Having a bag of bite sized chocolates hidden in your cupboard will help you to only take one every now and then instead of finishing off a bag every time a fix is needed.
    
    Even better would be to mix other things that make you feel good; exercise is one of these things, music and aromatherapy are others. One is very involved and the others are passive. All work on the same part of the brain to get the positive brain chemicals going.
    
    Each person has to find out what works best for them, but each person can find something that keeps them away from the calories.
    
    Take care, everybody!

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    ChaplinSpeaksposted 13 years ago

    Hmm.  Awesome question.  I have to take it apart.  The comfort food is bad or unhealthy for your body.  Eating the comfort food makes you happy. 
    
    Eating the comfort food will make you happy for a short while, but then here comes the sluggishness and possible indigestion or heartburn to follow.  So, the happiness is sweet, but short-lived.
    Eating the unhealthy food, unfortunately, sticks with you for quite a while, maybe forever if it creates weight gain, health problems.
    
    So, no, I do not think there is a balance.  The negative has more weight, increasingly so, the more often you partake.  This doesn't mean you can't have comfort food every now and then.  It just means you have to watch it since the bad outweighs the good.

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    mikejhcaposted 13 years ago

    Comfort food can make you happy because it causes your body to release feel good chemicals.  However exercise does the same thing and your body needs exercise.  It does not balance out.  When I exercise or do relaxation exercises it improves my health and reduces cravings for comfort food.  I also have more energy and feel more motivated.
    
    The problem with that theory is that people become overweight and out of shape.  Comfort food is a poor replacement for exercise and relaxation.  For example when I started meditating I required less sleep, had more energy throughout the day and my seasonal allergies went away. Exercising keeps the fat off, causes my immune system to work better and makes me strong.  You do not want fat interfering with your vital organs like your heart.
    
    From my experience people that eat comfort food to feel happy do not have very much energy and are not as happy as they could be.  I saw a kid watching TV and 5 hours later when I left he was still sitting in the same spot watching TV.  There was not even anything good on and he was bored.  When we went for a hike in the woods he stayed because he did not want to get up.

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    EuroCafeAuLaitposted 13 years ago

    I think it does.  If your body is missing a nutrient it will crave it, and that includes comfort foods IMHO.  Once in awhile it's OK to eat whatever crosses your mind, but use moderation if it's a high calorie splurge-a-rino

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    catgypsyposted 13 years ago

    Since I think emotional health is just, if not more sometimes, important than physical health, I say absolutety! Comfort food has gotten me through many rough times.

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    SidKempposted 13 years ago

    Unfortunately, no.
    
    First, this is not a moral issue. But it is a health issue.
    
    When we eat things that promote future illness and infection, we create a difficult challenge for the future. So we trade comfort now for pain later. I speak from experience. What I ate in the past got me into the hospital a month ago, and I'm still recovering.
    
    And there is another question. Why do we need food for comfort? All conditional comfort is transitory. We are better of learning to breathe, relax, and enjoy food that is healthy for us, so that we feel good now, and we feel good later, too.
    
    So, what moderate foods can we find that relax us, and are also healthy. Hint - try having a balanced meal or snack. But eat the carbs first. So, some dried fruit, followed by a hard-boiled egg. We relax, then nourish, and roll right along, healthily!

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    prism3xposted 13 years ago

    just like most things....comfort food in moderation and awareness can be a good thing

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    MickSposted 13 years ago

    It is only the constant eating of one type of food that is bad for you.  Comfort food tends to fall into the sweet and sugary or junk food: cakes or burgers, eating the occasional doner, doughnut, or burger won't do you any harm, living a diet of them will.

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    Nancy Owensposted 13 years ago

    Hi Earl! I think everyone needs a little comfort food at times, but everything in moderation. Happiness is something we develop from the inside out, not from the outside in!

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