Feeling blue? Eating sweets actually won't improve your mood at all.

[EmperorScorpious]

[quote]As much as we all wish the answer to any problem could be "eat more junk food," powering through an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's when you're in a bad mood won't help you feel better, according to research from Penn State University. It'll probably make you feel worse, actually. Shocker.

Researchers gave handheld computers to a group of 131 college-age women with high levels of concern about their weight and body shape and patterns of unhealthy eating -- but not eating disorders -- and had them self-report their moods and eating behavior several times a day. They found the subjects' bad moods worsened after bouts of "disordered eating patterns," like binge eating, loss of control over food intake or intake restriction.

Imagine that: For a bunch of young women who already have body image issues, going on a massive binge when they feel bad doesn't put them in a better mood. If they were feeling negative, their mood worsened significantly after a round of unhealthy eating. Positive feelings weren't affected by disordered eating, though: Good moods didn't change either before or after eating.[/quote]

[editline]19th March 2013[/editline]

[url]http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-03/science-confirms-obvious-unhealthy-eating-makes-your-bad-mood-worse[/url]

[Bad)-(and]

isn't this common knowledge?

if i ever feel down or whatever you want to call it, i go to the gym or out for a run. least that actually works

[Andokool12]

WHAT?!?

[Kondor58]

Wasn't the whole thing obviously just a placebo effect on fat people

[Tufty 🌹]

Well duh, if you have body image issues, stuffing your face isn't going to make you feel better.

For generally 'feeling blue', though, chocolate does help. It releases dopamine, improving your mood. The title implies this research applies to all areas of depressive thoughts, which it clearly doesn't.

[MasterFen007]

You don't bloody say.

[carcarcargo]

Generally when I'm feeling down I start eating loads of crisps. I thought that when you feel sad you generally feel hungry.

[Negrul1]

Eating sweets makes me feel like shit.

[minecraft.exe]

what do colors feel like

[Protocol7]

[QUOTE=Negrul1;39970779]Eating sweets makes me feel like shit.[/QUOTE]

Me too, I practically want to vomit.

[ittla]

Eating healthy makes me happier.

I feel like shit after sweets. Especially chocolate.

[Nelth]

it depends on the person mostly, I for one eat sweets when I'm kinda stressed out and it helps me

[- Livewire -]

[QUOTE=Nelth;39971011]it depends on the person mostly, I for one eat sweets when I'm kinda stressed out and it helps me[/QUOTE]

If you're eating sweets when you get stressed, you're gunna be one fat bastard when you're older.

[Chris™]

[QUOTE=minecraft.exe;39970826]what do colors feel like[/QUOTE]

Purple is pretty deep and Blue is fairly moody.

[KorJax]

[QUOTE=minecraft.exe;39970826]what do colors feel like[/QUOTE]

aids

[Nelth]

[QUOTE=- Livewire -;39971079]If you're eating sweets when you get stressed, you're gunna be one fat bastard when you're older.[/QUOTE]

nah, im rarely stressed and the occasional hard work and some training keeps me fit luckily

[IPK]

Simple,remove ones morality and conscience,problem solved,people stop caring about bullshit

[Beetle179]

[QUOTE=Bad)-(and;39970711]isn't this common knowledge?

if i ever feel down or whatever you want to call it, i go to the gym or out for a run. least that actually works[/QUOTE]

If that works for you, that's great and you should keep doing it, but I feel obligated to point out that some recent research has been showing that exercise is not nearly as effective in treating clinical depression as was once thought. It's important to be careful when talking about the difference between "feeling sad/moody" and "clinical depression" because they're two very different things. Such, exercise might work when you're moody, but for depression it might not benefit you at all.

Sorry to be a little bit irrelevant.

[Mr. Someguy]

Sweets don't help me at all, I know that. Salads kinda help, Meat helps the most for some reason.

In the end all it ever does is make me feel a little better in the short term at the cost of prolonging the issue in the long term.

[ViralHatred]

I comfort eat and haven't gained weight in 3 years.

It's actually starting to annoy me because I'm losing weight. :tinfoil:

[Map in a box]

Eating chocolate makes me happy. WORKED FOR ME I'm coll rite

[Foogoowoman]

Well no shit it doesn't make you feel physically better. But having a tasty snack is just a pleasant thing so that's why it can help.

[3mpty]

What a fair sample group, that totally also applies to me, being a woman concerned about my eating habits.

Sweets make me feel good when im down, i know theyre unhealthy but i aint got time for worrying about that

[ScottyWired]

[QUOTE=IPK;39971522]Simple,remove ones morality and conscience,problem solved,people stop caring about bullshit[/QUOTE]

What.

[Zeke129]

[QUOTE=Kondor58;39970720]Wasn't the whole thing obviously just a placebo effect on fat people[/QUOTE]

No, not a placebo effect at all.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that contributes to calmness and happiness. Our stomachs have a "brain" (I shouldn't even put that in quotes - it's literally a brain - [i]we have as many neurons there as the brain of a cat[/i]) and our stomach's brain is where about three quarters of our body's serotonin is produced. This is because in addition to mood, it's how our stomach's brain regulates the functioning of our stomach.

Carbs, especially sugar, just so happen to be a good way to make our stomachs produce more serotonin. When we feel like shit and our serotonin levels are low, we crave junk food for this very reason. It's also why we feel good during and immediately after eating that whole tub of ice cream.

But it's just a boost - you crash after a hit of caffeine just like your mood will crash after a hit of serotonin. Over time, our bodies will learn "hey - serotonin is easy! Just make the person crave junk food really badly and we'll get more!". Eventually you'll need to eat worse and worse to get the same effect and eventually it won't do anything at all aside from making your waistline bigger.

This wasn't a problem when finding sugar meant finding fruit, but now we can just go to the pantry and get all manner of crap.

You try telling an addicted cat what to do.

[draugur]

[QUOTE=minecraft.exe;39970826]what do colors feel like[/QUOTE]

Purple.

[PowerBall v1]

This is dumb. Someone who is addicted to sugar could temporary raise their dopamin levels by eating some and making them feel "happier". Of course, if they have weight problems their self-image would be nagging them, truly kicking in when the dopamin wears of and they regret their actions.

Enter abusement of any drug, ever.

[yawmwen]

[QUOTE=Bad)-(and;39970711]isn't this common knowledge?

if i ever feel down or whatever you want to call it, i go to the gym or out for a run. least that actually works[/QUOTE]

walking (at least) 1 mile is what i do if i feel down. only takes about 15 minutes and it really makes a big difference.

[isak]

When I was stuck in bed for weeks with crippling depression, sweets were the only thing that got me out of bed. It's not that they made me feel any better, it's that they gave me a sugar rush. I couldn't sit still, so I'd get up, and the positive effects of getting up and actually having to move around outweighed the effects of sweets. I guess caffeine would've been a better substitute, but it helped me a bit.

[Hardpoint Nomad]

[i]"I eat because I'm unhappy, and I'm unhappy because I eat."[/i]
[img]http://www.pnlovesyou.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=886&pos=261[/img]