Even The Image Of Food Stimulates The Appetite
Author: Marko Balašević
Time for reading: ~1
minutes
Last Updated:
August 08, 2022
Levels of the hormone ghrelin, which controls appetite, are increasing, German scientists have found.
Even observing an image of delicious food can cause a change in the level of hormones that control appetite, German scientists have found. According to them, seductive images may be part of the cause of the obesity epidemic.
The link between seeing or smelling food and increasing appetite has long been established. Now, for the first time, research proves that even a photo of food can provoke a desire to eat.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry in Munich drew their conclusions from an experiment that monitored the reaction of healthy men to images of food.
The results show that levels of the appetite-controlling hormone ghrelin increase when men look at pictures of appetizing food.
The effect of hormonal changes is so powerful that a photo can stimulate us to eat a piece of cake just two hours after breakfast.
For the first time, research shows that the release of ghrelin in the blood to regulate food consumption is also controlled by external factors. In this way, our brain processes these visual stimuli and the physical processes that control our perception of appetite are triggered involuntarily, explains study author Petra Schuessler.
Experts advise people trying to lose weight to avoid seeing images of foods high in calories and fat.
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