Hot Dog! Why do we crave comfort food?

Written by: Jacinda Taggett

I was recently featured in The Boston Globe about a comment on hot dogs. This experience got me wondering… why do we crave hot dogs in the summertime? Well to really understand the craving, you need to know the psychological and neurobiological reasoning behind comfort foods.

What is “comfort food?”

When comfort food was first introduced, it was linked to an unhealthy diet that provided maximal pleasure but minimal nutritional value. In the psychological and sociological context, researchers defined it as having 5 main components: nostalgia, convenience, physical comfort, indulgence, and belonging. When you think about how sales of hot dogs are rising currently, they fit all of the criteria for comfort food from the colloquial to the academic.

The neurobiology of high-fat, high-sugar foods

Whenever Americans think about guilty pleasures in their diet, they think of hamburgers, ice cream, and nonetheless hot dogs! As is inferred since the origination of the term, comfort foods are typically high in fats and high in sugars. Neuroscientists have seen in both animals and humans that after consuming these high-fat, high-sugar foods, there are short-lived dopamine boosts into the same regions of the brain that are known for reinforcing pleasurable behaviors (Atar, 2026). Additionally, it has been shown throughout various studies that fatty foods are seen as reported in higher frequency during stressful periods of life– such as intense work weeks or during exams season. This is due to the fats in the food temporarily suppressing the HPA axis– our primary stress-response system– and therefore promoting a feeling of solace during an already stressful time (Gibson, 2012).

The psychology of foods that provide comfort

Although there are studies backing the neurobiological mechanisms of comfort foods, there are psychological studies showcasing that part of the pleasure comes from expectation. Psychologists have studied this topic not via eating but via drawing or describing their comfort food preferences, which still showed improvements in mood and allows us to infer that part of the psychological benefit is coming from expectation. On top of this, there was a study last year that focused on the different expectations people might experience when deciding to eat comfort food, and saw that although most people use it to manage negative emotions or alleviate boredom, it was actually highly endorsed that pleasure and reward was the main motivator for indulging in comfort food (Wu, Vartanian & Faasse, 2025). Instead of knowing that this food will make us feel better long-term, it’s instead a short-lived dopamine boost and deep down we understand that (Wagner et al., 2014).

So… why do we crave comfort foods?

Since the 60s, comfort food has shifted from strictly being unhealthy foods to being any type of food that brings solace during tough times. There was a great review by Dr. Lucy M. Long that describes how the pandemic introduced this shift– particularly through social and outlet media (Long, 2022). I think that modern food marketing has reflected this, as now individuals view comfort food as more nostalgic or more convenient than simply unhealthy. Living in America, especially in the Greater Boston area, you might remember eating hot dogs throughout the summertime, during your favorite sports game, or spending time with family and friends. On the same idea as nostalgia, there is almost a sense of community that comes from eating hot dogs with friends, family, or sports fans. It is essentially embedded into our culture to indulge in hot dogs solely in large gatherings, therefore we will see a high rise of hot dog consumption during peak summertime.

---

References

Atar A. Neurobiological Consequences of High-Fat High-Sugar Diets on the Mesocorticolimbic System: a Narrative Review. Curr Nutr Rep 15, 6 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-026-00729-5

Gibson EL. The psychobiology of comfort eating: implications for neuropharmacological interventions. Behav Pharmacol. 2012 Sep;23(5-6):442-60. doi: 10.1097/FBP.0b013e328357bd4e. PMID: 22854304.

Long LM. How the Pandemic Redefined Comfort Food: American Individualism, Culinary Relativism, and Shifting Moralities. Popular Culture Studies Journal. 10(1) 2022: 1-18.

Wu F, Vartanian LR, Faasse K. Why Do We Eat Comfort Food? Exploring Expectations Regarding Comfort Food and Their Relationship with Comfort Eating Frequency. Nutrients. 2025 Jul 8;17(14):2259. doi: 10.3390/nu17142259. PMID: 40732884; PMCID: PMC12297910.

Wagner HS, Ahlstrom B, Redden JP, Vickers Z, Mann T. The myth of comfort food. Health Psychol. 2014 Dec;33(12):1552-7. doi: 10.1037/hea0000068. Epub 2014 Aug 18. PMID: 25133833.