An attempt to explore food as comfort

—Japanese food as comfort food—

Abstract

　It is clear that the accumulation of daily stress and mental fatigue is a trigger for lifestyle-related diseases, sleep disorders, eating disorders, etc. Therefore, maintaining mental health is extremely important for our quality of life (QOL). Rest and exercise are generally recommended as ways to reduce daily stress and fatigue, but a more familiar method that we use is thought to be "eating". As we have probably all experienced, there are many foods that affect our moods and emotions. We actively change our mood by eating and drinking on a daily basis. This is actually considered to be the most familiar and important functionality of food. This article introduces physiological and psychological evaluation methods aimed at capturing mood changes, using examples from previous research on foods, beverages, and aromas. We will also introduce the effects of Japanese Dashi soup, which forms the basis of Japanese food. In our research, we have examined the psychological effects of various beverages and foods by incorporating subjective evaluations through questionnaires and autonomic nerve activity as objective indicators. As a result of examining the comfort of Japanese soup stock, it was suggested that drinking a combination of bonito and kelp soup stock improved mood states and increased parasympathetic nerve activity, which is highly correlated with a state of relaxation. In addition, the effect was found to be strongly influenced by the aroma of the Dashi soup. Dashi soup and its flavorful Japanese cuisine seem to have the potential to be a healthy comfort food originating from Japan.