Mood bounces back even without comfort food. When you’re feeling down or stressed, it can seem easy to turn to comfort foods. But new research shows that you’d probably feel better even without the food. “The research was funded by NASA in hopes of improving the mood of astronauts on space missions. Astronauts tend to lose weight in space, where the work demands are stressful and the food quality less than stellar. The researchers wanted to know whether giving people comfort food would boost their mood, a finding that might help astronauts during a long, taxing voyage to Mars.” Participants identified foods they didn’t think would influence their mood along with their favorite comfort foods. They then watched movies that made them feel sad, anxious or angry. “Some subjects were then served triple-portion-size helpings of a comfort food. Others were given a food they liked but didn’t consider a mood booster, and some were given the neutrally rated granola bar. Some weren’t given any food. Three minutes later, the subjects took another mood questionnaire.” Mood improved similarly regardless of whether the participants ate comfort food, other foods or no food at all.

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