You may have already noticed: during the holidays, a multi-course meal is a popular choice or you just keep helping yourself to a buffet. Another dessert? Why not. Why is it that we suddenly have more ‘space’ during the holidays? HLN science journalist Martijn Peters explains.
It will come as no surprise to anyone that we regularly have to open our trouser buttons during the holidays. Why do we keep gobbling and yet there is always room left for dessert? “That has to do with our ‘sensory specific satiety’,” says Martijn. “That sensory phenomenon causes your satisfaction to decrease when you continue to eat one type of food.”
Conversely, this also means that your appetite increases again when you are presented with a new taste or a new dish. “It shows how important physical stimuli are in stimulating your appetite. And that what you eat and your hunger are very closely linked.”
The dangerous side? You can really overeat yourself in this case
You can already notice the sensory satiety process when you eat a single meal. It will taste good at first. But half way through it tastes a bit less. “Even people with memory loss still experience that sensory-specific satiety, even if they have forgotten whether and what they just ate,” Martijn explains. “In other words, if you regularly eat the same meals, you will find them less and less tasty.”
Yet you can outsmart the system by making small changes to your daily diet. For example, a study from the 1980s showed that participants’ appetite suddenly returned when they were presented with yellow smarties, after they had had ‘enough’ of the red smarties.
A more recent study shows the same thing, but with herbs instead of colors. “The subjects in the study were allowed to eat fries until they were ‘full’. When no one wanted more, we added ketchup to our Belgian specialty. And you guessed it: the participants spontaneously started filling their plates again.”
As useful as that internal feeling of satiety is, there is also a dangerous side to the story. With a wide variety of easily accessible dishes full of new flavors and spices, sensory-specific satiety can actually encourage overeating. Just think of how you can stuff yourself in a food hall with different food stands or at a buffet or multi-course meal.
All the food on the buffet is new, so you are always curious about the new flavors. And that also explains why, after all those oven snacks and croquettes, there is still room left for that dessert. So it is up to us to ensure that our eyes are not bigger than our stomach.
Also read:
Which affordable bubbles are tasty? Our sommelier tested 15: “Almost as high quality as champagne for 9.99 euros” (+)
Never have too much (or too little) drinks again: this is how many bottles you should provide for your end-of-year party (+)
Tough game, dry turkey or crazy sauce? Our HLN chefs Piet, Sandra and Jelle save your party menu (+)
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss anything from the stars.
Yes, I want free unlimited access
2023-12-31 16:03:00
#full #add #dessert #happen
