Whether it's food or sex, pleasurable activity provides more
than just pleasure, University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers
say. It actually reduces stress by inhibiting anxiety responses
in the brain. The findings were published online Nov. 8, 2010,
ahead of print in PNAS, the official journal of the National
Academy of Sciences. Experiments designed by Yvonne Ulrich-Lai,
PhD, research assistant professor, James Herman, PhD, director
of the Laboratory of Stress Neurobiology and professor of
psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at UC, and colleagues
also indicated that the reduced-stress effects continued for at
least seven days, suggesting a long-term benefit. "These
findings give us a clearer understanding of the motivation for
consuming 'comfort food' during times of stress," says Ulrich-
Lai. "But it's important to note that, based on our findings,
even small amounts of pleasurable foods can reduce the effects
of stress." The researchers provided rats twice daily access to
a sugar solution for two weeks,