There are times when we all reach for some type of comfort food and after a few mouthfuls the world seems like a better place.

But now scientists believe that the secret behind comfort foods is all in the mind, as foods that are high in sugar and fat can alter the chemicals in the brain and can help to relax us. Foods high in carbohydrates like pasta raise levels of seratonin in the brain and so make us feel better.

It seems that high levels of stress in early life can change how nerves form in the brain and foods high in sugar or fat help to balance these changes and make us feel better.

In research done on rats they found that those who underwent stress in the beginning of their lives had higher stress levels than normal. But when these rats were fed fattening foods their levels of stress and anxious behavior dropped.

So, if you feel guilty for reaching for that candy bar don’t put it down to poor will power, you now know there are other things at play here. If you feel stress is affecting your food choices rather than reaching for that high calorie food try going for a walk or find something you enjoy doing that can help to lift your mood.

Also before I finish, if research like this is only coming out now publicly, be aware that findings like this have been in the hands of food manufacturers for years and used against us. By creating foods that change the chemicals in our brain we’ve become more addicted to their snack food even though we know they’re bad for us.

But, thats for another days article.

Until then you should read the post I wrote on “Salt and its link to food cravings”, click here to read it

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Burning fat with exercise can be hard work.

But, face it if you could stop it getting on your body in the first place you wouldn’t need to burn it off…right?

And that all comes down to portion size and counting calories.  But, honestly does the majority of us either have the time or know how to work out the correct portion sizes.

Surely there must be an easy way to do it, where you don’t have to weigh your food or read labels?

There is, watch this simple to follow video and I promise you’ll be an expert in portion sizes in the next 3 minutes…