Food serves as cure to loneliness, researchers find

By Staff Writer

A new study reveals that certain comfort foods can help people feel less lonely.

The report, which will appear in the upcoming journal Psychological Science, reveals that food can have the same effect on people as pictures and mementos of loved ones. Researchers from the University of Buffalo based their findings on a series of writing experiments.

Some of the participants were asked to write for six minutes about a fight that they had with someone close to them. Other volunteers wrote about an emotionally neutral topic. Following the initial assignment, some people were asked to write about eating a comfort food, while the rest wrote about eating a new food. Lastly, every participant filled out a questionnaire to describe their levels of loneliness and sadness.

Researchers found that people who wrote about a past conflict were more likely to feel lonely than the neutral-topic writers. However, individuals who wrote about comfort foods quickly recovered from their lonely state because the topic made them feel closer to their loved ones.

Adolescents who feel isolated or have low self-esteem may benefit from wilderness therapy programs, which aim to provide help for troubled teens.