Victory was sweet for the U.S. Women’s World Cup team 5-2 victory this month — but it’s a safe bet that the vanquished team from Japan was reaching for actual sweets after the stunning upset.
Research by Cornell food scientists reveals how a person’s emotional state — particularly in the competitive, wide world of sports — affects the perception of taste. In particular, people in negative emotional states tend to crave sweets more than those in a positive frame of mind.
“We determined how emotions arising from the outcome of college hockey games influenced the perception of sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami (savory) taste, … in addition to hedonic responses ¬- or how much they liked or disliked the foods,” said Robin Dando, assistant professor of food science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Dando, who with Corinna Noel, a doctoral student in food science, published “The Effect of Emotional State on Taste Perception” in the journal Appetite, June 27.
“Emotional manipulations in the form of pleasantly or unpleasantly perceived real-life events can influence the perception of taste, driving the acceptability of foods,” said Dando. “These results imply that such modulation of taste perception could promote emotional eating in times of negative emotion.”
The study shows that emotions experienced in everyday life can alter the hedonic experience of less-palatable food, implying a link to emotional eating, according to the researchers. Dando explained, “In times of negative affect, foods of a less pleasurable nature become even more unappealing to taste, as more hedonically pleasing foods remain pleasurable.
“This is why when the team wins, we’re okay with our regular routine foods, but when they lose, we’ll be reaching for the ice cream.”
The relationship between food and mood in individuals is complex and depends “on the time of day, the type and macronutrient composition of food, the amount of food consumed, and the age and dietary history of the subject”.In one study by Spring et al. (1983), 184 adults either consumed a protein-rich or carbohydrate-rich meal. After two hours, their mood and performance were assessed. The effects of the meal differed for female and male subjects and for younger and older participants. For example, females reported greater sleepiness after a carbohydrate meal whereas males reported greater calmness. In addition, participants aged 40 years or older showed impairments on a test of sustained selective attention after a carbohydrate lunch. Furthermore, circadian rhythms influence our energy levels and performance throughout the day. “Early birds” feel most productive the first part of the day and their food choices become particularly important during lunch and throughout the afternoon. “Night Owls” feel most energetic later in the day and should pay attention to their breakfast choices as they can increase or decrease energy levels and influence cognitive functioning. For example, according to Michaud et al. (1991), if you are an evening person and you skip breakfast, your cognitive performance might be impaired. A large breakfast rich in protein, however, could improve your recall performance but might impair your concentration. This illustrates the complexity of relationships between food and mood and the need to find a healthy balance of food choices.
The effects of chocolate
Chocolate has a strong effect on mood, generally increasing pleasant feelings and reducing tension. Nevertheless, some women, especially those trying to lose weight, experience guilt after eating chocolate.
Many people consume chocolate when they are in negative moods such as boredom, anger, depression and tiredness, experience stress, or are in a particularly happy mood. Furthermore, many women label themselves as “chocoholics,” which led researchers to examine the effects of psychoactive substances in chocolate that potentially could create a drug-like addiction . Chocolate contains a number of potentially psychoactive chemicals such as anandamines which stimulate the brain in the same way as cannabis does, tyramine and phenylethylamine which have similar effects as amphetamine, and theobromine and caffeine which act as stimulants. Nevertheless, these substances are present in chocolate in very low concentrations. For example, 2 to 3g of phenylethylamine are needed to induce an antidepressant effect, but a 50g chocolate bar only contains a third of a milligram. In 1994, Michener and Rozin conducted an important experiment, which showed that the sensory factors associated with the consumption of chocolate produce the chocolate cravings rather than psychoactive substances. Participants were supplied with boxes that contained either milk chocolate, white chocolate, cocoa powder capsules or white chocolate with cocoa and instructed to eat the contents of one box when they experienced a craving for chocolate. If the chemicals in chocolate produced the craving, the intake of pure cocoa would satisfy it. Interestingly, only milk chocolate could alleviate the desire for chocolate. White chocolate was not as effective and adding cocoa to white chocolate did not alter the results. Cocoa powder could not satisfy the craving at all. The unique taste and feel of chocolate in the mouth is responsible for the chocolate craving. Therefore, chocolate can serve as a powerful mood enhancer.
Caffeine: a psychoactive drug
Caffeine, mostly consumed in the form of coffee and tea, has stimulant effects enhancing alertness, vigilance, and reaction time but also increases anxiety in susceptible individuals. It is the most commonly used psychoactive substance in the world with an estimated global consumption of 120,000 tonnes per year. Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors in the brain and can relieve headaches, drowsiness and fatigue. Short-term caffeine deprivation in regular users can lead to withdrawal symptoms.
Personality might determine caffeine use. For example, evening people who have difficulty getting up in the morning can improve their alertness and energy levels through caffeine. Contrarily, caffeine can cause unpleasant effects in people who have high levels of anxiety.
Food effects on emotions
Studies have found that diets low in carbohydrates increased feelings of anger, depression, and tension and diets high in protein and low in carbohydrates increased anger. Diets high in carbohydrates have a generally uplifting effect on mood.
Mood effects on food choice
As much as food can affect our mood, our mood can also affect our food choices. In a study by Macht (1999), female and male participants were asked to report how their eating patterns changed with emotions of anger, fear, sadness, and joy. When experiencing anger and joy, participants experienced increased hunger as compared to feelings of fear and sadness. Anger increased comfort and impulsive eating, and joy increased eating for pleasure. Another study found that people eat more less-healthy comfort foods when they are sad. Participants either watched a happy or a sad movie and were provided with buttered popcorn or seedless grapes throughout the movie. The group watching the upbeat movie consumed significantly more grapes and less popcorn than the group watching the sad movie. In addition, when participants were provided with nutritional information, the sad people consumed less popcorn than the happy people and the happy people did not alter their consumption.
Psychological effects of food consumption
Cognitive factors are often more powerful than physiological factors. For example, if a group of dieting individuals is asked to eat foods high in calories, they might experience anxiety and other negative emotions because they are afraid of gaining weight. These effects have nothing to do with the ingredients of the foods themselves.
In addition, learned appetites can also influence our experience of foods. For example, our favorite foods usually trigger positive emotions. Even the smell of food can evoke a strong emotional experience. Furthermore, the situation in which food is consumed and our past experience with particular foods also affects our emotional response. For example, a person who thinks that drinking a cup of coffee will increase alertness might feel more alert even after drinking decaffeinated coffee.
How to maximize the benefits of food on mood
The perfect diet to enhance mood and optimize performance and health remains unknown. Although abundant research exists on food-mood relationships, the findings of these studies are often generalized and subjective. For example, the ability of carbohydrates to positively influence mood remains controversial. Therefore, it seems best to follow a well-balanced diet rich in protein, moderate in carbohydrates and low in fat since this could generally improve mood and energy levels. This should also ensure the adequate supply of micronutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, iron, folic acid and thiamine. Furthermore, to avoid the sense of guilt evoked from overindulging in craved foods such as chocolate, the best way is to manage their intake such as including them in small amounts with meals and avoiding them when hungry. In addition, reading the labels before consuming these comfort foods can also deter from overconsumption.