Showing We Care With Hugs and Kisses

The act of nurturing friends and family with sentimental, nostalgic, or simply tasty food during times of illness, grief, and celebration is a long-standing tradition. Hence, the familiar term “comfort food.”¹  Critical care nurses work amidst illness and grief on a daily basis. Indeed, comforting nurses or being attentive to “caregiver stress” is one of the current foci of exemplary professional practice, as set forth by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.² 

The field of proteomics, albeit a simplified description, is the study of proteins as they vary with time or stress periods (biological perturbations such as disease or drug therapy) that are experienced by a cell.^3,4  Proteomic research suggests that consumption of dark chocolate is associated with stress-reducing benefits.⁵  Nutrition experts speculate that “acute doses” of specific chocolate types may have cardioprotective effects in humans, and psychology researchers have identified specific comfort foods, some...