Guilty about that chocolate bar you ate when you were stressed? Don't be. Smita DeSouza tells you why...

If your day includes crowded trains, bitchy co-workers, maids who don't show up, fighting parents, a boyfriend who checks on your every move, we wouldn't be surprised if you reached for that chocolate gateau the minute you got home, or even picked a burger on your way home or got Ronald McDonald to deliver it to you ASAP.

Stress is part of our daily lives. There's no avoiding it. And while some de-stress by working out, doing yoga or meditating, others take the easy way out and just reach for that chocolate doughnut or packet of fries.

What Is Comfort Food?

"Comfort foods are foods that at a very young age have been associated with feeling good," says psychologist Dr Anjali Chhabria. So if you find yourself reaching for ice cream, it could be because mummy bought you ice cream each time you were sad. Or 'sev-puris' could make you happy, because making them was a way for you and your mom to bond. It is no wonder that when the going gets tough, we turn to foods that remind us of happy times in our youth! So whether you're nursing a bruised ego, a broken heart or a common cold, it's comfort food that you crave.