We eat in the wake of memories. Or better, we decide to put on the plate the foods that remind us of pleasant moments of the past and family customs. This is supported by a study recently published in the scientific journal Neuron and signed by a group of researchers from the University of Basel (Switzerland). To reach this conclusion, the scientists observed - via functional magnetic resonance imaging - what happened in the brains of the test volunteers when choosing a snack. Well, in most of them it was mainly activated there'memory area and, in fact, they leaned towards the hunger-breakers they remembered best. "We always eat through emotions»Explains the doctor Daniela bavestrello, expert in nutrition psychology. «These, at the table, act on two fronts. On the one hand, we favor foods that, due to their warmth, scent, touch, offer us positive flashbacks of our life; on the other hand we go to look for those foods (sweets, for example) that have a consoling power, because they make us relive the positive emotions that we lack at that moment ». He also speaks of the evocative magic of food Brian Wansink, director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, who also points out another gender difference between the two sexes: while men prefer pasta and meat because they recall the mother who spends the day cooking for her children, in women they are the chocolate and cakes to pamper the mind driven by the memory of how pleasant it is to prepare them.
But how far can reminiscences guide our diet? «It depends on how the head 'works' the emotions», resumes Doctor Bavestrello. "If the tasty trace is associated with balanced and healthy dishes of the'childhood, this is the best way to make positive food choices and avoid gaining weight as an adult". Not only that: as a research suggests Elisabeth Loftus of the University of Irvine, you can fool your memory to change our menu and lose weight. The researcher succeeded, convincing some volunteers that as children they had been ill due to the consumption of eggs. Moral: everyone has set out to reduce (or eliminate) egg-based foods, including ice cream. Shot on the positive: if it is believed that as children we were crazy for vegetables and fruit, play "eat healthy and light" it's done!
