Anyone who has reached for a chocolate bar or tub of ice-cream during a painful breakup know how soothing they can be.
Now scientists have found "comfort" eating really does work at a molecular level to lift our mood, which could explain why so many people spiral into obesity when facing stressful situations.
A team of scientists led by Dr Lukas from the University of Leuven, in Belgium, used MRI scans to assess the emotionalimpact of fat.
They recruited 12 healthy-weight volunteers and scanned their brainwaves as they were shown a series of sad and neutral images as well as exposing them to sad and neutral music.
They then inserted either fatty acids or saline into their stomachs but didn't tell the volunteers which was which. This meant they could bypass the effects of sensory stimulation.
The scientists found the music and images caused people's moods to fall across the board.
However, the levels of sadness among those who consumed fatty acids were around 50 percent lower compared to those who received saline.
"Eating fat seems to make us less vulnerable to sad emotions, even if we don't know we're eating fat," Dr Lukas said.
The researchers said their findings could have important implications for people with obesity, eating disorders and depression.


据英国《每日邮报》8月2日报道：经历过痛苦分手的人都明白一个巧克力棒或一盒冰淇淋在这期间的抚慰效用。

如今科学家们发现，"慰藉"食物确实能在一个分子水平上帮助人们提升情绪，这或许能够解释为什么有那么多人在压力很大时体重却直线上升。

这支来自比利时勒芬大学，由卢卡斯博士领导的科学家团队利用核磁共振成像扫描技术测评出了脂肪对人情绪的影响。

有12位体重正常的志愿者参与了此项研究。科学家向这些志愿者展示了一系列让人产生伤感情绪和不会让人产生情绪变动的图片和音乐，与此同时，对他们的进行了脑电波扫描。

然后科学家们向志愿者的腹中注入脂肪酸或盐水，但志愿者并不知道自己体内注进的是哪一样，这就意味着他们不会受到自己感官刺激的影响。
科学家们发现伤感的音乐和图片让人的情绪一落千丈。

但是，与体内注入盐水的人相比，注入脂肪酸的人的伤心指数低了50％。

"即使我们在毫不知情的情况下摄入了脂肪，它似乎也可以帮人抵御悲伤情绪。"卢卡斯博士说。

研究者们称该研究结果或许会对肥胖症病人、饮食失调者和抑郁症患者发挥重要作用。

• emotional [i´məuʃənəl] a.易动感情的；情感的 (初中英语单词)
• series [´siəri:z] n.连续；系列；丛书 (初中英语单词)
• depression [di´preʃən] n.沮丧，抑郁；萧条 (初中英语单词)
• painful [´peinfəl] a.痛(苦)的；费力的 (高中英语单词)
• belgium [´beldʒəm] n.比利时 (高中英语单词)
• neutral [´nju:trəl] a.中立(国)的 (高中英语单词)
• sadness [´sædnis] n.悲哀；悲痛；凄惨 (高中英语单词)
• spiral [´spaiərəl] a.螺纹的 n.螺旋(管) (英语四级单词)
• impact [´impækt] n.影响，作用；冲击 (英语六级单词)