What does it mean, “comfort food”? And what causes someone to seek comfort food?

Comfort food is an ingredient or a dish that not only provides sustenance, but also an emotional element (usually from a happier time) in offering nostalgia or sentimental value to someone. This is always going to be specific to an individual, and may apply to a specific culture, your generation or your living situation.

When under emotional stress or exhaustion, we may turn to what could be called 'comfort food'—food associated with the security of childhood, good times, or a memory or experience from the past such as, Mom’s chicken soup, or your grandpa's gumbo.

Comfort foods provide a temporary sense of wellbeing, and they make a person feel good. Foods high in sugar, fat, or salt tend to elevate mood by stimulating the brain’s reward system. In fact, according to Psychology Today, the same reward and pleasure centers associated with drug addiction are active when comfort foods are consumed.