(ETX Daily Up) – The melted cheddar that drips down the crust of a burger’s crispy steak, the cheese that stretches from a slice of ultra-gooey pizza, the cream that squeezes out of a donut fluffy that we divide in two without care… We bet you are already salivating! Against all odds, you wouldn’t have to look at these images of food once, but thirty times for them to act as appetite suppressants! We explain to you.
Ah, the summer holidays, its repeated aperitifs, its barbecue parties inevitably accompanied by sauces of all kinds, its ice cream breaks with extra whipped cream… It must be recognized that this season so awaited throughout the year sports a paradoxical dimension between the injunction to respect the principle of a “summer body” – that is to say, to present on the beach an athletic body highlighted by the cut of the swimsuit – and all these caloric moments that make the summer so convivial and festive… In reality, we would all have the solution in our pocket, as long as we have an account on social networks. Who has never seen photos dripping with pleasure on Instagram or TikTok? Usually, when looking at pictures of food, it doesn’t take long for the appetite to give the impression of a stomach biding its time. Who hasn’t avoided opening their Instagram account when the lunch break is approaching but it’s not yet time to leave the office?
In truth, it would be because you only look at the offending photos once that they do not spoil your appetite. Published in the journal Appetite, a study from the University of Aarhus, Denmark, reveals startling findings on how pictures of food can help control appetite. It would thus be necessary to imagine meals repeatedly to reduce food intake. More than a thousand people have taken part in this experiment of looking at pictures of orange-colored M&Ms either three times or thirty times. Foodies who watched them repeatedly didn’t feel like biting into the chocolate-covered peanut candies. And when the experiment tested the effect of photos with other colors, the appetite also did not come. Same observation with the last stage of the analysis involving the Skittles, these sweets which have a different taste according to each color. One of the explanations would be in the brain, at the level of the zones stimulated by food. Whether we imagine them or actually eat them, it would be the same places in the brain that would be activated. In other words, appetite is determined by cognitive perception, according to doctoral student Tjark Andersen from the Department of Food Science at Aarhus University.
As summer approaches, would the trick be to look at food images thirty times in order to control weight gain? If these conclusions are at the very least unusual, we will remember that we will only appreciate our “summer body” by adopting a state of mind that is good in our body, and to do this nothing like balanced meals, rich in vegetables, olive oil, nuts and legumes, in line with the recommendations of the Mediterranean diet.