If You Always Crave Food At The Same Time, You're Probably Just Nostalgic

It's no secret that things like snacking before bed, eating in front of the TV and mistaking hunger for thirst can all sabotage your diet.

But did you know that your most cherished memories can also make your cravings kick into overdrive?

That's right. It turns out nostalgia and noshing have more in common than you may think.

Research suggests that foods associated with happy memories can affect the way our favorite snacks taste and even how good they make us feel.

This could explain why hot dogs always seem to taste better at baseball games, or why ice cream always makes you the happiest on a hot summer day.

Nostalgia often influences our cravings for comfort foods since they remind of us social ties, which in turn, makes us feel less lonely.

I mean, hey, they don't call them comfort foods for nothing.

A study conducted by Jordan Troisi and his colleagues at Sewanee, The University of The South, revealed that people with strong relationships typically tend crave the taste of comfort foods when they feel isolated.

According to Troisi,

Comfort food seems to be something people associate very significantly with close relationships. It's not just that ice cream, for instance, is really tasty. It's that someone has developed a really significant meaning behind the idea of ice cream due to their relationships with others, and that's what is triggering this effect.

So, if you have the urge to stuff your face with a pint of ice cream every time you're feeling blue, don't blame yourself.

Just blame stupid old nostalgia.

Citations: The surprising things that are making you constantly hungry (including having cereal for breakfast) (Daily Mail)