Report on Science and Nutrition
Eating with the Eyes
Visual cues related to food influence eating behavior in both people and animals. The wrapping of McDonald’s food can enhance taste preferences across a variety of foods – from chicken nuggets to carrots – in young children. Visual cues related to food, such as presenting a light when food is delivered, can also enhance overeating behaviors in animals by surpassing energy needs.
Trust Your Senses
Feelings of hunger or fullness are critical signals that affect your food-related decision-making. To examine how sensory states shape eating behaviors, researchers trained laboratory rats to link feelings of hunger or fullness to whether they would receive food. They did this by giving the rats food only when they were hungry or full, so that the rats had to recognize those internal signals to determine whether food was available or not. If a rat was trained to expect food only when hungry, it generally avoids the area where food is available when feeling full because it does not anticipate being fed.
What Happens in the Vagus Nerve
The gut-brain axis, or the chemical connection between the gut and the brain, influences eating behaviors in multiple ways. One of these pathways involves the vagus nerve, which is a nerve in the skull that helps control the digestive system, among other functions.
The vagus nerve rapidly transmits nutrient information to the brain. Activating the vagus nerve can lead to a pleasurable state, causing rats to perform a behavior, such as nudging their nose through an open hole, to stimulate the vagus nerve. It is also significant that the rats learn to prefer the foods and locations where the vagus nerve was stimulated.
Benefits of Sensory Awareness
Your body’s ability to use external and internal signals to regulate how you learn and make decisions about food highlights the amazing processes involved in managing your energy needs.
Poor sensory awareness is linked to a range of dysfunctional eating behaviors, such as eating disorders. For instance, anorexia may result when sensory signals, like feelings of hunger, fail to stimulate the drive to eat. Similarly, the inability to use the feeling of fullness to lessen the pleasurable and adverse consequences of eating tasty food can lead to overeating.
Your sensory signals play an essential role in regulating your daily eating patterns. During the holidays, many issues stemming from the external world surround eating, such as busy social schedules and pressure to conform and feeling guilty when overeating. At this time, it is particularly important to cultivate a strong connection with your sensory signals. This can help promote intuitive eating and a more holistic approach to your eating habits. Instead of focusing on external factors and placing conditions on your eating behavior, enjoy the moment, savor every bite with conscious awareness, and give your sensory signals the time to perform the role they were designed to play.
Your brain has evolved to sense your current energy needs. By integrating these signals with your experience of your food environment, you can optimize your energy needs and enjoy the season.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Alex Johnson is an Associate Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience at Michigan State University who studies how learning and motivational mechanisms influence food consumption. More by Alex Johnson.
Curated by professional editors, The Conversation offers informed commentary and discussion on the issues affecting our world. More by The Conversation US.
Source:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/decoding-your-hunger-during-the-holidays/
“`css
}@media screen and (max-width: 480px) {
.lwrp.link-whisper-related-posts{
}
.lwrp .lwrp-title{
}.lwrp .lwrp-description{
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-multi-container{
flex-direction: column;
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-multi-container ul.lwrp-list{
margin-top: 0px;
margin-bottom: 0px;
padding-top: 0px;
padding-bottom: 0px;
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-double,
.lwrp .lwrp-list-triple{
width: 100%;
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-row-container{
justify-content: initial;
flex-direction: column;
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-row-container .lwrp-list-item{
width: 100%;
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-item:not(.lwrp-no-posts-message-item){
“`
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-item .lwrp-list-link .lwrp-list-link-title-text,
.lwrp .lwrp-list-item .lwrp-list-no-posts-message{
};
}
Leave a Reply