Why it’s Important to Include Comfort Foods

Giving ourselves complete permission to eat our favorite foods is a form of self-compassion and one way to treat our body as a temple.  Comfort foods are foods that may provide a feeling of well-being and typically associated with one’s culture, childhood, or a positive memory.  These are foods most diets usually mark as a forbidden food. 

When we only use comfort foods as a “reward” for exercising or on “cheat days”, we are unintentionally creating a “threat of deprivation”.  This threat is shown in research to trigger food obsession and can lead to feeling out of control around eating. What may start as a benign desire to “get healthy” by cutting out comfort foods, can quickly spiral into unwanted behaviors. There has to be a better mindset!

By including comfort foods, we add variety and balance into our everyday eating habits that can leave us feeling satisfied - not deprived. Have you ever noticed how most comfort foods contain carbohydrates? This is because not only do carbohydrates give us energy, they also release serotonin in our brain. Serotonin is stored and produced in our gut and is one of the “ahhhhhhh” chemical messengers needed to keep our mood balanced.  And guess what… it gets depleted by dieting (aka restriction).

If we have not yet convinced you to stop restricting your comfort foods, know that those who practice self-compassion have more success in creating new habits.  Which is what most of our clients want to do in the first place!  Some may think what we are talking about is “just an excuse” to not change but this couldn’t be further from the truth.  Once we have the foundation of a positive relationship with food, we use gentle nutrition interventions to heal from and/or decrease risk of disease.

Moving from a place of dieting and restriction towards a mindset of food freedom and nourishment is a process.  There are many tools that can be used along the way, but bringing a sense of curiosity about our own bodies is one of those most helpful.

What would happen if you fed yourself as an act of love? Get curious and schedule a session with one of our dietitians to find out!