( CNN ) -- You 've been thinking about it for weeks . Mounds of turkey piled high with buttery mashed potatoes , dripping with gravy . Green bean casserole and pumpkin pie . Or sweet potato casserole and pecan pie . Cranberries . Collard greens . Stuffing . Every year , we spend hours making the traditional Thanksgiving favorites just like our mom used to do , like her mom did before that . `` When you do something repeatedly over the years , it builds up a kind of power , '' nutritional psychologist Marc David says . `` It creates its own momentum . To make the same dish year after year , decade after decade , there 's something in that that connects us to the past . '' Nostalgia comes from the Greek word for homecoming ( nostos ) and pain ( algos ) . But experts say feeling nostalgic is actually good for your mental health . Anything can bring on that special moment -- music , smells , photos . We play the same songs , cook the same recipes , take the same family photo in the same spot next to the same fireplace because we 're human , David says . Our biological functions are based on repetitive rhythms . Our brains are hardwired to relax when surrounded by the familiar . `` Emotional eating has gotten a bad name , '' David says . `` We 're emotional people . We are emotional beings . We 're built for pleasure . '' Nostalgic products fill a need to belong and feel socially connected , according to an Arizona State University study published in the Journal of Consumer Research last year . That 's why this time of year , TV and radio ads are filled with smiling families sitting around a large table in holiday sweaters , passing the dinner rolls . Even if you 're far away from home , companies want you to believe that buying those same dinner rolls will fill your heart with holiday joy . Turns out , it works . Dr. Clay Routledge works with other researchers from the University of Southampton 's nostalgia project . He recently published an article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology titled `` The past makes present meaningful . '' Nostalgia , Routledge found , increases a person 's self-esteem . Daily activities like going to class or attending meetings are routine , even boring . When we engage in nostalgia , we tend to think of the things that are really important to us . That makes us feel like our life is meaningful . Taste of Home 's sweet potato tart recipe . `` What 's amazing about autobiographical memory is that bad memories fade faster than positive memories , '' Routledge says . `` One thing that 's interesting about nostalgia is that it 's not 100 % detail accurate -- it 's more the highlights . '' Nostalgia is largely social . Routledge ' s studies found that people who are alone or disconnected feel better after engaging in nostalgia . Yet you 're probably dreaming right now about your grandfather 's deep-fried turkey , not about him , right ? `` Is it really about the food ? '' Routledge asks . `` Or is the food just sort of a trigger or cue for what the holidays are really all about , which is relationships . We do n't eat these foods other times of the year because we 've segmented them off as special . They go with this occasion . They go with the relationships . '' For Taste of Home editor Catherine Cassidy , Thanksgiving means cooking for the ones she loves . She gets satisfaction in putting good food on the table for her family . So many of our best moments from the past , she says , are rooted in our sense of smell . `` We call them food memories . When it comes to the holidays we are always trying to recreate the magic and the specialness we experienced when we were children . '' So indulge in a little Thanksgiving daydream . Long for the oyster stuffing . Sniff the air in anticipation of mom 's pumpkin pie . Then on the big day , enjoy your holiday feast , and all the benefits that come from the power of nostalgia .
Nostalgia comes from the Greek word for homecoming ( nostos ) and pain ( algos ) Nostalgic products fill a need to belong and feel socially connected . People who are alone or disconnected feel better after engaging in nostalgia .