Exploring the Nourishment of Food Nostalgia

By Olivia Puppolo 

Skyhawk View Staff Reporter 

 

Pancakes, mac n’ cheese, chocolate chip cookies. For many people, these types of foods can trigger events from the past and lead them into a more favorable time or place. 

 

 FONA International, a company that helps manufacture and produce competitive new flavors in the food and beverage industry, shared a research done by Mintel that reported, “Food brands can convey a sense of belonging, safety, comfort and all of the other positive feelings that nostalgia creates.” 

 

Whether it be chocolate cake, a specific candy bar, or even homemade cookies, most people have a taste or smell of a food that can take them back to their childhood.  

 

Food nostalgia triggers different parts of the brain to create a sense of comfort and familiarity and can connect an individual with a place and setting from the past according to Health News.  

 

“One of the key players of food nostalgia is the olfactory system,” said Dr. Natasha McKay, a neurosurgeon for over 25 years in Springfield, Massachusetts. 

 

The olfactory system is connected to the front part of the brain, and is closely linked to the sense of smell, which is why certain aromas from food can trigger the brain and lead to a flood of memories and emotions, according to Britannica.  

 

Researchers call the ability for a food to trigger memories as the Proust Phenomenon, named after the French writer Marcel Proust, and Dr. McKay said that this process can be caused in part by the brain’s amygdala. 

 

Proust described when he ate a piece of a madeleine cookie soaked in lime-blossom tea, he was transported back to his aunt’s house, where he would often indulge in this snack. 

 

“The amygdala is located in the brain's temporal lobes, it plays a major role in the process of emotions and the aspect of memory recall,” said McKay.  

 

The amygdala acts as an emotional “monitor” and influences how an individual perceives and remembers a food experience.  

 

McKay said the hippocampus can also play an essential role in the study of food nostalgia.  

 

“The hippocampus is the center for the retrieval of memories and is located in each hemisphere of the brain and is responsible for our memory process,” said McKay. 

 

When an individual eats a particular food, the hippocampus works with other brain regions to bring forth a flood of memories, therefore resulting in food nostalgia. It helps connect emotions with specific memories, contributing to the vivid recollection of past experiences associated with particular foods, according to Britannica. 

 

A sudden recollection of a past moment from childhood and/or adolescence is called a reminiscence bump, and it's particularly prominent during identity forming years, according to Health News.  

 

These reminiscence bumps are not always associated with positive memories and can be combined with something called “conditioned taste aversion,” bringing out negative emotions.  

 

Naomi Fernandes, a paralegal for Liberty Mutual Insurance, said she has a conditioned taste aversion related to the tuna fish and macaroni casserole, which was a frequent dish in her home. 

 

“It was the most disgusting thing, I hated it,” said Fernandes, adding that those dishes were the least expensive for her mother to buy, as her family struggled with poverty when she was a child.   

 

“To this day I cringe whenever I smell tuna fish or the combination anywhere,” said Fernandes.  

 

However, a specific food or dish that brings nostalgia does not always have to be associated with one’s unpleasant memory of it, such as tuna fish and macaroni.  

 

Psychologists work with patients to get rid of taste aversion using exposure therapy to replace bad memories or anxiety induced ones with good memories, according to Healthline. For instance, a patient might change their association with unfavorable foods by exposing themselves to the dish or item during positive experiences.  

 

So, if Fernandes’ husband were to cook macaroni for their anniversary dinner, the taste of pasta would begin to be associated with this positive memory instead of the one from her childhood.  

 

She might tackle her feelings about fish by going on a fishing trip with her children to create a more positive memory of family bonding. So now she will associate the smell of fish with a more favorable memory.  

 

By integrating her negative food thoughts with something more memorable, enjoyable, and loving, she will be able to lessen or stop the flood of distressful memories. 

 

“Food is something that each human being consumes and is an important part of an individual's culture and memories, whether it be good or bad,” said McKay. 

 

Psychology Today reports that positive food nostalgia can cause an improvement in mood when neurochemical activity releases serotonin in the brain. 

 

 Feeling nostalgic can make people feel better about themselves or whatever situation they are in as they are reminded of the good memories from their childhood. Nostalgia can also make people feel more socially connected to others, which in turn boosts people’s overall positive feelings and stimulates an increase of self-esteem according to Psychology Today.  

 

“People typically fall back onto their “comfort” foods as a way to feel at home,” said McKay, adding that whenever she is going through a hard time she indulges in orange pineapple ice cream that she would often eat during the summers as a child.  

 

2023 was predicted to be the year of nostalgia in the food industry as products from the past started to make a comeback including Dunkaroos, General Mills cereals, and Taco Bell’s Enchiritos according to Lions Deal. 

 

“It’s amazing how the brain is able to transport us into a specific time and place just by eating a certain food we once had during our childhood,” said McKay adding how she believes more companies in the future will take advantage of the idea of “food nostalgia” as it will allow for them to play into people’s emotions and memories of a better time.