Food and Your Mood

It's one of those days. Deadlines looming. Meetings all morning. The boss on a rampage. Your assistant out sick. Your inbox overflowing. And it's only Monday afternoon!

You're overwhelmed and exhausted, and all you can think about is that candy bar stashed in your desk drawer. You reach for it, your mouth watering in anticipation. You're sure it's just the thing to boost your energy and calm your nerves.

But is it really? Not according to Robert Thayer, PhD, professor of psychology at California State University in Long Beach and author of Calm Energy: How People Regulate Mood with Food and Exercise. Thayer's research has shown that the boost in mood people get from sweet snacks like your candy bar is short lived at best.

"In fact, in one study, we found that people were more tense and tired an hour after they had eaten a candy bar than before it," says Thayer.

So why do we crave sweet snacks at times of stress? For one, they taste great. OK, that's a no-brainer, but a megadose of sugar does more than tickle your taste buds. It actually stimulates your brain's pleasure center while temporarily lowering your body's sensitivity to pain. Healthcare professionals who work with newborns often take advantage of this by putting sugar drops on an infant's tongue to ease the distress caused by medical procedures.

It isn't just the sugar, though. High-fat content in food also creates pleasurable sensations and lessens pain. In a 1997 study in Britain, volunteers who ate high-fat pancakes an hour and a half before dunking their hands into ice-cold water reported less discomfort than others who had eaten equally caloric, but low-fat, pancakes.

The other draw of the sugary, high-fat snack is the fuel it provides. "When people are experiencing negative moods, and also when they are experiencing stress, they need energy," says Thayer. "And food is a very elemental form of energy."

Of course, most of us don't settle for any old food when we feel run down. We go for the gold: sugary, energy-dense treats such as ice cream, cookies, and chocolate. These foods are crammed with easily digested carbohydrates, which the body converts into glucose -- the simple sugar that circulates in the blood to fuel our cells.

Unfortunately, the quick fix that sweet snacks provide is all too fleeting. People often end up eating still more carbohydrates in an attempt to revive their energy levels after the rush wears off.

Why do it, then? Thayer says it is because people are more or less hardwired to respond to instant gratification.

"You may know that you will be feeling bad in 10 minutes or 15 minutes or an hour, but it is the immediate effect that controls your behavior," he says.