New Delhi, India
Eating fatty foods as a form of seeking comfort, also known as comfort eating, can exacerbate mental stress and interfere with the natural recovery process, a new study has revealed.
People resort to comfort eating, such as chocolate or crisps, to get rid of the stress and mental strain. However, it can have an overall negative impact on mental health as eating fatty foods can restrict the flow of blood towards the brain, thus increasing the chances of a heart attack.
Instead, researchers suggest people eat fruits and vegetables to treat themselves when they feel stressed out.
How was the research conducted?
To conduct the research, Prof Jet Veldhuijzen van Zanten enrolled healthy 18 to 30-year-olds, especially to monitor how their bodies reacted when they ate fatty foods during stress.
“For people who already have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, the impacts could be even more serious. We all deal with stress all the time, but especially for those of us in high-stress jobs and at risk of cardiovascular disease, these findings should be taken seriously. This research can help us make decisions that reduce risks rather than make them worse,” he was quoted as saying by the Guardian.
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The study involved providing healthy young adults with two butter croissants for breakfast, followed by a mental math task with increasing speed for eight minutes.
The participants received alerts for incorrect answers and could observe themselves on a screen.
Results and observation
The research revealed that consuming fatty foods during mental stress led to a 1.74 per cent reduction in vascular function. Past studies indicate a 1 per cent decrease in vascular function corresponds to a 13 per cent rise in cardiovascular disease risk.
“The experiment was designed to simulate everyday stress that we might have to deal with at work or at home. When we get stressed, different things happen in the body, our heart rate and blood pressure go up, our blood vessels dilate and blood flow to the brain increases. We also know that the elasticity of our blood vessels – which is a measure of vascular function – declines following mental stress,” said the study’s first author, Rosalind Baynham of the University of Birmingham.
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Published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition and Nutrients, the study also highlighted that the intake of healthier foods, especially those rich in polyphenols like cocoa, berries, grapes, apples, and other fruits and vegetables, can prevent the decline in vascular function.
(With inputs from agencies)