EFFECTS OF FOOD ON HUMAN EMOTIONS: AN OVERVIEW

Abstract

Food is indispensable for sustaining life as well as promoting the health and well-being of all living things. As a basic need for sustenance of life, food provides nourishment - the energy and nutrients needed by the body for various activities. A wide variety of food across different groups is consumed by humans. Food is an integral part of life, a comfort factor for some, a gastronomic delight for another, a culinary art for a few, a career pathway for others and so much more. It is a well-known and established fact that our emotions have the tendency to change according to the food we consume. Food and emotions are closely linked; it has the ability to evoke a range of emotions in our body. It is found that while certain edibles such as those high in fat, carbohydrates and sugar tend to result in negative emotions in some people, most people relate sweet food and food rich in sugar as evoking positive and happy emotions. This investigative study aims to explore these emotional reactions to different kinds of food to gain a better understanding of the interrelationship between the two. KEYWORDS: Food, Human Emotions, Food habits, Food choices, Emotional advertising