A very good article about why eating makes us feel better. Here's part of it.
Are we emotionally what we eat?
Negative emotions can send us rushing to the biscuit tin or hiding our horrors in a tub of ice-cream - with up to 43% of people using food to alter their mood, according to a survey by the Priory Clinic.
our complex relationship with food starts right back in the cradle.
"A baby's blood sugar falls if they are hungry and they get in a dire emotional state. They scream and cry, are fed and feel better.
"So very early on we learn to associate stress reduction with eating and drinking.
"Secondly, the chemicals we gain from food have a strong impact not only on our appetite but also on our emotional brains, so the connections between food and mood become intricately connected in a very complex way."
Because of this complex relationship, people might say they are hungry and genuinely believe it, when in fact they are sad. They will also feel sad and miserable when they are hungry because of the deficiency of certain neurochemicals, which carry messages in the brain.
"For example, when we eat we get changes in serotonin, endorphins and dopamine levels in the brain. These are very powerful chemicals, which also affect mood.
"Sugar, for example, causes serotonin flows and serotonin is a chemical used in certain anti-depressants, such as Prozac, which cause the user to feel more balanced and equitable.
"People who are low in serotonin in the brain do generally feel better when they eat sugar, but that's not true of people who have adequate levels of serotonin."