http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2012/11/why-youll-still-have-room-for-pie-after-turkey-and-stuffing/ Ideas, innovations and discoveries from the world of science Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:53:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2012/11/why-youll-still-have-room-for-pie-after-turkey-and-stuffing/comment-page-1/#comment-7970 James Fri, 23 Nov 2012 16:42:08 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/?p=13030#comment-7970 To say that the reason why normal rats exposed to a stressful situation gravitated towards high-calorie, high-fat food is because the hormone acts as an antidepressant is a huge, potentially faulty leap and sounds suspiciously like an anthropomorphic "comfort food" theory. It seems far more likely to me that natural selection would favor animals that sought high-calorie, high-fat foods since the body requires more nutrients during periods of stress. To say that the reason why normal rats exposed to a stressful situation gravitated towards high-calorie, high-fat food is because the hormone acts as an antidepressant is a huge, potentially faulty leap and sounds suspiciously like an anthropomorphic “comfort food” theory. It seems far more likely to me that natural selection would favor animals that sought high-calorie, high-fat foods since the body requires more nutrients during periods of stress.

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