Why people identify happiness with food?

[kiddykat]

I think it depends on the person.. When I'm unhappy, I tend to not eat as much. When I do, I splurge on a few pieces of chocolate/that's it. I think habitually, as a kid, I always ate healthy.. so when feeling like crap, overeating/eating unhealthy just makes me want to gag.

Growing up, there was a saying in my house, "Not eating much huh? In love?" Even when people are in love, they also tend not to eat as much.

Either way, the only time in which I do eat a bit more than usual is when I'm studying my ass off/the weather's cold outside (this part biologically makes sense- since body fat storage is needed as a blanket for cold weather protection).

 

[Rachelinpa]

Also, every anorexic chick I have ever known has been a miserably unhappy person.

Word.

 

[mlittrell]

endorphines maybe

 

[Haphazard]

Well, there's always jolly and fat being associated, so people obviously see a connection...

For me it's less just food and more a matter of when I need it. Eating when I'm hungry is a great relief and typically puts me in a good mood, but I'll get cranky if I have to eat when I'm not hungry.

I remember the best meal in my life. It was at a Steak n' Shake about two years ago. I hadn't had the chance to eat much substantial for about a week and I'd been sick. I was pretty damn happy after that.

 

[Athenian200]

I have no idea. It doesn't make any sense to me either.

I mean, food can make me happy if I'm in the mood to eat, or I'm hungry. But if I feel nauseous, tense, or distracted, it can make me feel sick. The type of food offered, and the type I'm in the mood for makes a big difference as well.

So, how food makes me feel depends on several variables.

 

[heart]

Also, every anorexic chick I have ever known has been a miserably unhappy person.

I read that people who fast, especially anorexics tend to get hooked on the endorphrins/hormones that are released while the body is hungry. It's just another way of altering brain chemistry.

 

[ajblaise]

I read that people who fast, especially anorexics tend to get hooked on the endorphrins/hormones that are released while the body is hungry. It's just another way of altering brain chemistry.

Same with bulimics, with yaking. (And food eating)

They both might have started for the same reason, but I think they might continue because of the addiction, unbeknownst to them.

 

[Bella]

Putting something in your mouth mimics putting something in your soul a.k.a the big, aching, void.

 

[INTJMom]

Why people do that?

To me it looks like that more S and F you have you are more likely to think/feel this way. But I could be wrong.

For example: my mother asks me

She "Do you want ice cream"

Me: "No I don't"

She(confused):"Why don't you want to be happy?"

Me:About what you are talking about?

If you ask me this are probably the remains of tribal sociaty. We could even say society before 20. century.

In my life I have admited few times to some people that I don't create this link and every time my words created same kind of shock?

I am aware that by starting this thread I look like someone who is looking for attention.
So if someone thinks that. I can only say that I am really fuc*** up as the thread suggests.


So, why people link food and happiness?

I think it has to do with the way food was used in our childhood.
I have a friend who broke her leg when she was young.
Her father took her out for ice cream every day to make her feel better.
She says that behavior set a bad precedent in her life because she later used food to comfort herself and had trouble with her weight.

 

[Nocapszy]

Antisocial One:

You appear to be a remarkably curious guy. How is it that you managed to live long enough to.. well how old are you?
It seems so odd to me because a great many of the questions you ask are very basic... A lot of these things kind of just explain themselves if you pay even scant attention to anything.
I mean is this voracious learning a newfound personality manifestation?

Its fucking weird... I almost don't believe you're a genuine character -- every conception I have as to why you would be how you are seems to contradict itself.

 

[placebo]

lmao 'Why don't you want to be happy?'
seems so irrelevant to the conversation about ice cream when I read it.
Are you sure it wasn't her suddenly randomly addressing some deeper issue she thinks you personally have? lol

Anyway, what I can say is, food makes me feel good! Especially when I'm hungry!
Perhaps its just a biological/evolutionary thing. We need food to survive. Survival = alive = not dead = good = happy. ? Good foods give you energy too. Energy makes you feel more alive = perhaps more happy.

I find I tend to eat more when I'm in a good mood too. If I'm angry I'll not eat for several hours.

I am SOOO hungry right now talking about food. Food would make me happy right now, because that hungry feeling in my stomach really sucks.

My taste buds would tingle with happiness as well. Not just me. You have to think about your taste buds.

 

[ThatsWhatHeSaid]

When most people eat, they enjoy the flavor and enjoy the full feeling they get, and that makes them feel better. Eating/feeding also serves as a distraction from what's going on. Lots of animals eat when they're under stress; it's called displacement activity.

 

[scantilyclad]

food can be as addicting as any drug. I can't explain why food makes me happy, but eating solves all my problems, well except for the overweight problem.

 

[Clownmaster]

you have to feel good about eating, otherwise we wouldn't have the motivation to eat.

when you take a piss, it feels good. same concept.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Antisocial One:

You appear to be a remarkably curious guy. How is it that you managed to live long enough to.. well how old are you?
It seems so odd to me because a great many of the questions you ask are very basic... A lot of these things kind of just explain themselves if you pay even scant attention to anything.
I mean is this voracious learning a newfound personality manifestation?

Its fucking weird... I almost don't believe you're a genuine character -- every conception I have as to why you would be how you are seems to contradict itself.

I totally understand your postition and I know that I look like a person that simply can't exist in the real world.

I can only say that when I reach 500 posts things will probably start to make more sense to you. What will be in next few days.

My age is 23.

 

[nolla]

She "Do you want ice cream"

Me: "No I don't"

She(confused):"Why don't you want to be happy?"

Me:About what you are talking about?

I would be confused too... This is really weird. I never was into this kind of eating that is supposed to counter depression or sadness. I would ask your question a bit differently. The food is for pleasure, not happiness. Is it that people misidentify pleasure with happiness? What is happiness anyway, is it a form of pleasure, maybe all pleasures combined, or just an "attitude" on the pleasures? When you say that ice cream cone can make you happy, to me it seems like a huge overstatement and we come very close to the behavior of sex addicts and the like. They misidentify their happiness to consist with only one major pleasure, and undervalue the others.

I think it has to do with the way food was used in our childhood.
I have a friend who broke her leg when she was young.
Her father took her out for ice cream every day to make her feel better.
She says that behavior set a bad precedent in her life because she later used food to comfort herself and had trouble with her weight.

This is a good point. For me, I never remember being awarded or comforted with food. For us it was more like "eat everything on your plate, food is not to be thrown away". And I never have had any obsession into eating.

You appear to be a remarkably curious guy. How is it that you managed to live long enough to.. well how old are you?
It seems so odd to me because a great many of the questions you ask are very basic... A lot of these things kind of just explain themselves if you pay even scant attention to anything.

I like this kind of questions.

 

[Virtual ghost]

I am digging up this one since someone maybe has something to say.

 

[nightning]

Necromancer!

Some food like chocolate contains theobromine are mood elevators. As been said before, stomach extension causes release of hormones that makes you feel satisfied.

Satisfied = happy? :mello:

 

[Amargith]

yes, chocolate is evil that way..and yet so goooood.

 

[miss fortune]

why hasn't anyone brought up the connection between food and social functions?

Often, when people go out with thier friends they get something to eat (or drink and then eat...) and at different family and holiday functions there's always food. Most happy occasions in human life are marked by food!

Like my association between standardized tests and food, most people just associate a warm feeling of happiness and friendship with food.