In an experiment with healthy volunteers, researchers found fatty acids administered to the stomach blunt the behavioral and nerve cell responses to sad emotion, providing scientific evidence that comfort foods such as macaroni and cheese, ice cream, and chocolate do indeed comfort.The brief report  was published online July 25 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. “Everyone knows this from personal experience,” lead author Lukas Van Oudenhove, MD, PhD, from the University of Leuven, Belgium, told Medscape Medical News. “Now we have scientific proof that this widely known phenomenon has a scientific basis.”

o do this, they recruited healthy volunteers to undergo four 40-minute functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) examinations while listening to emotional music and viewing sad, fearful faces to induce sad emotion. At the same time, the participants randomly received either a saline or a fatty-acid intragastric infusion.

The researchers rated the participants’ sensations of hunger, fullness, and mood.

The investigators found that participants receiving the fatty acids reported feeling less sad when they were viewing the sad faces or hearing the sad music. In addition, the fMRI images of the brain showed that fatty-acid infusion lessened the neural responses to sad emotions in regions of the brain.

“Here, we showed for the first time that if you bypass all of this and you administer foods in a completely subconscious way, without anyone knowing whether they were getting saline or fatty acids, we still see this effect on emotion. This is where the novelty of this study lies.”

Doesn’t research like this make you jump for joy?

1. Understand what “good” fats do. The body uses these substances for many functions, including creating energy, maintaining cells, transporting vitamins and creating hormone-like compounds that help regulate blood pressure and heart rate. Healthy fats also can help lower bad cholesterol levels.

2. Go for monounsaturated fats … Good food sources include olive oil, fish oil, avocados and olives – yes, fruits can contain healthy fats – and most nuts.
3. Polyunsaturated fats … Soybeans, whole-grain wheat and vegetable oils, including corn, saffron, sunflower and soy, contain these fats.

4.Omega-3 fatty acids. These types of polyunsaturated fats appear to lower the risk of coronary artery disease and may guard against irregular heartbeats and high blood pressure. Go for salmon, herring, flaxseeds, walnuts and leafy green vegetables.

5. Limit trans and saturated fats. Trans fats are common in commercial baked goods such as crackers and cookies, as well as in fried foods like doughnuts. Saturated fats are most often found in animal products (full-fat dairy and red meat), partially-hydrogenated oils such as Crisco and coconut, palm and other tropical oils.

6. Use moderation. All types of fat are high in calories, so keep portions small. A handful of nuts – roughly 25 almonds, for example – is all you need for a snack. If you’re cooking with olive oil, spray a small amount into a non-stick pan or lightly brush the oil onto meat, fish or vegetables before grilling.

7. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: Eat well and exercise. Weight gain doesn’t come from fat (or carbohydrates) per se – it comes from too many calories overall and not enough activity.