"pleasure" news and stories

When it comes to chocolate, there are two types of people: cravers and noncravers. It is interesting to note this because, unlike the vast majority of foodstuffs, people feel very strongly about their love of chocolate and often seem to find it to be "incredible" that not everyone loves the stuff.

Those who crave it experience an unusual reaction just from looking at it. A new study shows that simply looking at chocolate can activate the pleasure centers in a brain of a chocolate-lover. In fact, the part of the brain that is involved in drug addiction, the ventral striatum, turned on in response to the images, though noncravers did not have any activity in this part of the brain. Not surprisingly, when the viewing was combined with a taste of chocolate, their reaction (within the pleasure centers of the brain) was very strong. Noncravers also did not report that tasting the chocolate was as pleasant as the cravers did.

No on yet seems to have any idea as to why some crave chocolate and others don't, but some scientists say that the results of this study, indicating a clear desire-reward reaction to chocolate, could help "people change their diets or control cravings" for chocolate and possibly other foods. But when it comes to chocolate, who would want to?

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Previous studies about the tempting nature of foods have always assumed that the brain functions the same way in all people, but it turns out that some people are more affected by images of food than other people are. When someone's "reward center" was over-activated by temptations - say, a picture of a delicious chocolate cake - they were more likely to give in to those temptations. The study noted that such a reaction could make people more susceptible to forms of marketing and product advertisement, as well as even to other addictions, like drug use or alcoholism.

I know that I prefer to see images of tempting foods in cookbooks and on blogs, but I think it gives me a greater appreciation for the food, not necessarily tempting me to overeat. Indeed, something that is perfectly presented might make me less likely to tuck in, not wanting to disturb the art-like arrangement on my place.  Have you ever been driven to overeat by a picture? Does this mean that we need to add a disclaimer to our Food Porn category?

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Researchers at Nottingham University are exploring the ways our brains respond when we eat fatty foods. The goal, in part, is to learn why certain foods are pleasing and then hopefully design more healthful foods that still provide the pleasure and satisfaction of fatty ones. Along with fat content, taste, texture and smell are all factors in how and why someone enjoys a food, so researchers are giving test subjects milkshakes with varying fat contents and examining their responses via MRIs. Researchers will also examine how the brain responds to fatty foods when they are eaten versus when they are delivered directly to the stomach through a tube.

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