A friend and I are dining at a neighborhood restaurant on a hearty meal of fettuccini Alfredo, mozzarella and tomato salad and bread dipped in olive oil. High in carbohydrates and fat, so-called comfort foods are an effective stress remedy.
"I eat fattening foods when I'm bored or depressed because it's something to divert me from my bad moods and it tastes good," my friend says. But "afterwards, it makes me feel worse because I know I shouldn't have eaten it."
When the going gets tough, people gravitate to the feel-good foods that we remember fondly from our youth — everything from macaroni and cheese to baked beans, ice-cream and candy bars. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, an AC Nielson survey of grocery store sales reported a brief 12 percent surge in snack foods sales.
