– Parnad Basu, Amity University Kolkata
Everyone loves tasty food; it gives us a unique satisfaction. Often than not tasty food means high-calorie foods. That’s one of many reasons why we tend to choose or accept an unhealthy diet and blame ourselves for that. In a recent study, scientists revealed that may not be the sole reason. We may be programmed to find high-calorie foods easily since our ancestors were mainly hunters.
In the said study, 500+ participants were presented with different foods, either high or low-calorie foods. The foods presented were of a wide variety, from savory (chips) to sweet (chocolate) irrespective of what any of those individuals like. A total of eight different food items were placed inside a maze-like room. All participants either tasted or smelled those items. However, none of them knew that they will be tested. In the end, when they were asked to create a map as to where those food items are from their memory, the result was astonishing. Both in the case of tasting and smelling, most correctly recognized food items were found to be high-calorie foods.
In the modern world, this result is very pertinent. This study shows that the spatial memory of a human being prioritizes high-calorie foods over low-calorie foods. That may have been one of the reasons why we tend to eat unhealthy, high-calorie diet. It is because of the high-calorie spatial memory bias. That is why in a diverse food environment, high-calorie foods are relatively easier to obtain. Further studies on this topic may help diagnose obesity or other health related issues.
Reference:- de Vries, R., Morquecho-Campos, P., de Vet, E. et al. Human spatial memory implicitly prioritizes high-calorie foods. Sci Rep 10, 15174 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-72570-x
Also read: Pelistocene Megafauna Extinction
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Great👍