Junk food tied to bad moods

An interesting study from the University of Pennsylvania shows that eating “comfort food” to help a bad mood actually can worsen the mood that the food was supposed to alleviate. In a paper presented recently at the American Psychosomatic Society conference in Miami, researchers revealed that positive moods didn’t change one way or the other before or after eating comfort or junk food, but negative moods were made worse.

While the study wasn’t about seniors, and they used women participants who were much younger, the way they conducted the study makes me believe it easily could apply to seniors. Instead of having subjects appear at the clinic once a week to report on what they’d eaten and how they felt, they were equipped with handheld computers to input their moods and foods multiple times per day, especially just before and after eating.

In a study last year in the Public Health Nutrition journal, researchers revealed that people who ate junk or comfort food were more likely to be depressed — by 51 percent. The more junk food, the more depression.

One of the biggest concerns about seniors and junk food (and fast food is included) is that many of us have smaller appetites than before. Maybe it’s because food doesn’t taste like it did, or maybe a medication we’re on has reduced our appetite. Many seniors are at risk for malnutrition even if we’re never hungry, because the types of food we eat don’t support good nutrition. If we turn to junk food, we might not have enough appetite left to eat the foods we should.

And if we eat to help a bad mood, we could be making it worse.

Matilda Charles regrets that she cannot personally answer reader questions, but will incorporate them into her column whenever possible. Send email to [email protected]. © 2013 King Features Synd. Inc.