You’ve been there, dumped, heartbroken, exhausted or just starving at the end of the day and reaching for a high caloric, indulgent and delicious snack or meal. Ice cream on the couch. Or maybe its winter and you want a big hearty bowl of chili with all the toppings. RAMEN. Chicken and Waffles. Hot carbs. Salt.
The commonly held opinion that comfort food needs to be rich, warm, salty, sweet and even a little sticky is something that I struggle with. I get it, the sticky warm and sweet actually feels comforting while eating it. Like an edible blanket. However, if you look back to hunter-gatherer times, to pre-agriculture, there were big game feasts, there was communal eating by the fire, stories shared and even some celebratory dancing. And, most importantly- nourishment, devoured. The food eaten was not food that caused any harm to us. We weren’t musing over whether or not to eat more liver and saying things like ‘diet starts tomorrow’….
Nutritionally superior, as it was pure animal product, maybe some roots or tubers, and perhaps some grubs or bugs. Food that gave us comfort during those times was comforting because it was nutritious, not because it filled an emotional hole with less than nutritious ingredients.
I do want to note my intention here is not to over romanticize a simpler time. There were quite a few harsh realities from that time period that we have either evolved out of or through science have created ways to amend the necessity for them. I am referring to this time because nutritionally our food was the simplest form, and it was also the most nutritious. It enabled our brains to double in size and us as a species to survive. This does not mean I think we should emulate the entire lifestyle of our ancestors.
The idea that we fall back on because our modern day or western society links cultural identity to food, is that our ancestry, cultures, histories need be represented in food. Often. Daily. Meal(y). Every holiday around the world is a reason to gather and eat. If it’s a marketable holiday, Starbucks has a drink for it. Social gatherings for weddings, baby showers, birthdays, graduating ceremonies, etc, all revolve around food and drink. And why shouldn’t they? We all have to eat, why not do it together, while celebrating? We can and do, but the difference now is that we celebrate everything. Hunter Gatherers didn’t have birthdays, holidays, religion, etc. So while they would celebrate having enough food for their tribe, they weren’t eating birthday cake once or twice a week.
Colder weather around the holidays signals something in us that desires comfort. Maybe an inherent need to put on fat stores for winter. Reasonable, except we don’t need to store extra weight for survival, well most of us in the western world. And the method in which we’re adding that mass is not good for us. Added body fat from refined sugars, carbs, processed foods does not equal eating extra animal fat. Because our modern lives are so different now, we should redirect this urge for warmth. Really ask yourself, ‘is it NOURISHMENT I’m seeking or COMFORT?’
Food is nourishment, and most definitely can warm your soul and provide health, all of which feel comforting, on many levels. But if it’s comfort, connection, or emotional nourishment you’re seeking, get it from humans and pets, get that emotional energy from humans, not food.
It is hard to look at food as nourishment, and not love. So just start with knowing that feeding yourself and your family, or neighbor, coworker, wholly nutritious foods our ancestors ate is the best love you can give through nourishment. Skip the cake.