Why Do We Always Have Room For Dessert? How Our Appetite Tricks Us!
Almost everyone can relate to this: You're at a restaurant and just finished your main course.
You're absolutely stuffed and couldn't take another bite!
But as soon as you take a look at the dessert menu, a chocolate mousse or a piece of cake suddenly sounds very appetizing and once you start eating the dessert, you definitely have enough room to finish it.
So why is it that we often feel so stuffed after finishing one meal, but we could easily eat something else that has a different flavour?!
It's commonly referred to as "dessert stomach", but there's actually a scientific reason for it.
This phenomenon is called sensory-specific satiety (SSS).
It means that the pleasure we experience from certain foods declines the more we eat of it.
So sometimes, we might just feel full, but actually our brain isn't being stimulated by this type of food anymore. Then once we try something else (a different flavour, a different texture or even a different color) we suddenly have room again!
"Sensory specific satiety (SSS) describes the decline in pleasantness associated with a food as it is eaten relative to a food that has not been eaten."
In an experiment, participants were asked to drink 300ml of strawberry milkshake in 2 minutes.
After that, they're given a larger portion (700ml) of the same strawberry milkshake of which they could drink as little or as much as they wanted.
In the second part of the experiment (on a different day) the participants were asked to drink the same 300ml of strawberry milkshake in 2 minutes, again.
But afterwards, they were presented with 700ml of chocolate milkshake, of which they could again drink as litle or as much as they'd like.
The results showed that the new flavour of chocolate milkshake was voluntarily consumed much more than when the participants were presented with two of the same flavours.
"Part of the response is actually sensory boredom - we are getting satiated, but the food that excited us with promise of flavour delights is now boring. Then you present a dessert, a new flavour experience, a different profile to what we are bored with. It may look and smell good and (from experience) we know sweet is appealing. Satiety signals are overridden by the pleasing anticipation of the new food," Keast said. "If the same food was presented, the desire to consume more of the same is not present."-Prof. Russel Keast, director of Centre for Advanced Sensory Science at Deakin University
But SSS doesn't only happen with desserts.
It's most common to have room for something sweet after finishing a savory meal, but it can go the other way around as well - when you've eaten too much sweets, a hearty meal suddenly sounds very appealing.
Tests have actually shown that SSS isn't only linked to different flavors, but different textures, colors or even shapes of food can trigger it and suddenly revive your appetite.
If you're on a diet and want to use SSS to your advantage, try taking more, smaller bites. This way, SSS will appear faster and you will "get bored" of the taste faster and therefore feel satisfied sooner.Although every person experiences SSS, the effects differ quite a lot.
Even patients with amnesia, who can't remember what they've just eaten or if they've eaten at all, showed signs that their feeling of pleasure when eating the same foods decreased over time.
For kids, SSS happens more often and more quickly than for adults.
When presented with a wide variety of foods, infants will choose a little bit of many different falvors, rather than just eating as much as possible of whatever tastes the best.
SSS has also been linked to eating disorders, patients with anorexia are often quite a lot more affected by it than someone with bulimia.Why do we even experience SSS in the first place?
SSS had the evolutionary benefit of keeping a balanced diet.
We need so many different nutrients that we could never get from eating the same foods.
So this way, our body ensures that we eat a variety of different flavours and foods.
But nowadays, in a time where there's an abundance of almost every kind of food, this can easily turn into a trap rather than a blessing!
Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
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© Sirwinchester
It's exciting! I resteemed!
Thank you for the support! :)
This is interesting, I had not come across this before except in my own experience with dessert!
Glad to hear that you liked it an learned something new as well.
I think almost everyone would've experienced this themselves already, but I didn't know about the reason either before I stumbled across this topic!
Too many people have de-learned to hear what their stomach tells them. There is a reason why people eat differently when they are sick (where its loud enough for them to still hear it). And if you aren't sick and get a sudden craving then (if you are one of those who can still "hear it") then your body needs something that is in this food.
Very true. Our body knows best what it needs and it will signal it, we just need to listen!
Oh wow, that's very interesting. Thanks for sharing this with us.
That's why I always want chocolate after dinner, even when I feel full!
Exactly! But now that you know, you can trick and surprise your brain with different flavoured, textured or coloured foods!
Hi @sirwinchester, I just stopped back to let you know your post was one of my favourite reads yesterday and I included it in my Steemit Ramble. You can read what I wrote about your post here.
Awesome, thank you. Appreciate it!