ONE DISH OF PLEASURE, PLEASE

Researchers have looked at how takeaway foods can boost our happiness levels and discovered which meals rank the highest in making us feel good.

We all know a favourite takeaway on a Friday night is a special indulgence. Now researchers have looked at how takeaway foods can boost happiness levels – and which ones rank the highest for producing joy. An experiment commissioned by fooddelivery service Lieferando asked participants to record their positive emotions (such as happiness and liveliness) after eating 11 different takeaway meals. It found that on average, ordering any kind of takeaway increases happiness by 52 per cent. Indian food ranked number one on the happiness scale, improving happiness levels by 83 per cent, followed by sushi (73 per cent), burgers (70 per cent) and Thai food (64 per cent). According to psychologist Lee Chambers, the idea of comfort food is no myth. “When we look at the brain chemicals at play, our favourite takeaway can trigger dopamine release. Even just thinking about it can stimulate this, generating a craving that we can then satisfy,” he explains. “Given the turbulence of 2020 and the limitations on some forms of entertainment, food has become even more powerful in being a tool of happiness and being an experience that is certain – the same every time.”