Eating pizza is extremely pleasant for those who love this food – and science can explain this feeling of well-being. Watch!
Eat pizza it is, for many people, a real feeling of pleasure and joy. However, this does not happen only because it is a tasty food.
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According to The neuroscientist partner of SUPERA, Livia CiacciTaste, like the other senses, derives from an evolutionary survival origin. With that, sugar and fat tend to provide more pleasant sensations, as they show the body that that food has a good amount of energy.
“Any food with a great combination of flavors and textures tends to be more pleasant, especially for the combination of sugars and fats. The social factor also matters a lot, because pizza is associated with family gatherings, with friends and parties, and every moment of happiness experienced with pizza becomes an emotional memory linked to food”, points out the professional.
According to her, it is common to look for foods rich in these elements, because they are pleasant and guarantee the energy support the body needs.
“The food industry manages to produce highly addictive and high-calorie flavors because they use a combination of sugar, fat and salt,” he explains.
How does it work in the brain?
According to Livia, the brain has two main nuclei: the hypothalamus and the brainstem, which control food and receive information about nutrient availability.
The arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus receives information from organs, hormones, and metabolites, as well as being influenced by associative systems, such as reward and learning.
“These communications allow for interaction with the food environment, taking into account experience, availability and cost. The view, emotional appetite and palatability of familiar foods, together with social factors, habits and rules, influence food choices as well.
This is why, according to the professional, the way we deal with food cannot be reduced to just physiological signals of hunger and satiety, since affective memory has enormous weight in our relationship with food, including pizza.
“Affective memory refers to the emotional connection we make with certain foods based on past experiences and positive or negative associations. Once these connections are formed, pizza becomes a trigger for these emotions, and the act of eating pizza can evoke pleasant memories and experiences, bringing a sense of familiarity and pleasure”, clarifies the specialist.
The emotional connection can be so strong that, many times, we seek out pizza not only for its combination of flavors and textures, but also for the feeling of comfort and well-being it brings, and “emotional hunger” arises from there, when we discount emotions in food.
“It is important to remember that affective memory depends on experiences and varies from person to person. Each individual may have unique emotional associations with pizza or any other food. Our personal experiences shape our perceptions and emotions towards food, and these memories affects can influence our preference and pleasure in consuming certain foods, such as pizza,” he adds.
Why do we feel so good about eating pizza?
The “feel good to eat” chemistry is a great combination of cues from taste and smell, gastrointestinal system hormones, neurotransmitters, and even the bacteria that live in our gut.
“Science understands more and more how important the balance between bacteria, gut and brain is. There are also many studies that have indicated a change in eating style – replacing industrialized foods with more natural foods – as a way out not only for obesity, but also to reduce anxiety, depression and prevent dementia. It is worth investing in a healthier pizza recipe without losing flavour!”, he concludes.
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
