Cookie or clementine? Psychophysiological stress reactivity and recovery after eating healthy and unhealthy comfort foods.

ABSTRACT: Many people eat unhealthy foods that are high in calories, fat, or sugar when feeling stressed, yet little is known about whether this unhealthy comfort eating actually comforts. Additionally, prior research has not tested whether healthy comfort eating of fruits and vegetables might also alleviate stress, or whether comfort eating during the stress anticipation phase versus immediately after a stressful event is more beneficial for stress relief. The present experiment tested whether unhealthy and healthy comfort eating reduce acute psychophysiological responses to a socially evaluative stressor. Participants (N = 150 healthy women) underwent the Trier Social Stress Test in the lab and were randomly assigned to one of five conditions according to a 2 (food type: unhealthy vs. healthy) x 2

SUBMITTER: Finch LE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6635016 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature