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Stress triggers a person's compulsion to comfort eat, a new study at the Monell Chemical Senses Centre in the U.S. has found
Hormones activated when a person feels anxious or worried have been discovered in taste cells, which identify sweet, savoury and bitter flavours.
The findings could explain why many people dip their hand into the biscuit tin or raid the fridge when they come under pressure.
Researcher Dr Rockwell Parker, a chemical ecologist, said: 'Sweet taste could be particularly affected by stress.
'Our results may provide a molecular mechanism to help explain why some people eat more sugary foods when they are experiencing intense stress.'
He said he believes the hormones glucocorticoids act directly on taste receptor cells when a person is stressed, affecting how they respond to sugars and certain other foods.
Glucocorticoids affect the body by activating specialised receptors inside cells.
Knowing stress can have major effects on metabolism and diet experiments on mice showed their tongues contained receptors for them.
The highest concentrations were found in those sensitive to sweet and savoury taste, reports the journal Neuroscience Letters.
The study showed stressed mice had 77 per cent more hormone receptors in the nucleus of taste cells than those that were more relaxed.
It suggests the perception of sweet food - which is known to be altered by stress - could be specifically affected by the secretion of glucocorticoids and subsequent activation of their receptors in the tongue.
Dr Parker, of Monell Chemical Senses Centre in the U.S., said: 'Taste provides one of our initial evaluations of potential foods.
'If this sense can be directly affected by stress-related hormonal changes our food interaction will likewise be altered.'
He said although stress is known to affect intake of salty foods the hormone receptors were not found in cells thought to be responsible for detecting this taste - or sour.
Researchers noted a person experiencing anxiety or worry were particularly likely to crave sugary foods
The researchers say the implications of their findings extend beyond the oral taste system because taste receptors are found throughout the body.
Study co-author Dr Robert Margolskee, a molecular neurobiologist, said: 'Taste receptors in the gut and pancreas might also be influenced by stress - potentially impacting metabolism of sugars and other nutrients and affecting appetite.'
About three-in-four people in the UK are now overweight or obese - with comfort eating identified as one of the causes.
A study of 500 schoolchildren in Belgium showed those with high levels of the stress hormone cortisol and who turned to food gained body fat.
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