deceptive adjectives

Comfort Food Is a Lie

Photo: Armstrong Studios/Getty Images

Are you ready to unleash some righteous frustration on adjectives? Unload that cannon, friend: A new study claims that comfort food does a lot of nothing to comfort people.

Research published in the Health Psychology journal suggests that no food, “neutral” food, and delicious warm nuggets of comfort food have the same effect on alleviating a bad mood. Participants in a study watched an 18-minute video that would evoke depression or anxiety (i.e., chocolate feelings). Then these sad souls were split into three groups, where they were either given nothing, a granola bar, or their favorite comfort food listed on an earlier survey.

The great news is that everyone felt better. The worst news is that comfort foods did no more than air to improve a terrible mood.

Happiness was achieved by the boring practice of waiting. Time, not food, remains the healer of all wounds. Comfort food is a lie. Burn all adjectives.

Comfort Food Is a Lie