Want to know about the food industry trick that keeps you craving chocolate?
Did you know that big food manufacturers use what’s called the prefect ratio to hook you into enjoying certain foods? It has been described by food manufacturers and ingredient scientists as the bliss point.
It’s a perfect balance between fats and sugars and it just seems to hit a spot with our taste buds. A Yale study in 2018 [1] found that the combination of 1g of fat to 2g of sugars as a combination has a synergistic effect on our brains. Which means its effect is great than the individual parts? Meaning we crave more.
The only food containing this exact ratio that’s found naturally, is breast milk!
Let me just let you absorb that for a second! Certain combinations of ingredients that meet the exact ratio of fat to sugars or carbs (because eventually all carbs ingested will become glucose for our bodies to use) has an unusually addictive effect on our appetites.
This perfect or imperfect ratio maybe, is found in cakes, biscuits, chocolate, ice-cream and yes – breast milk. If you look at the side of a packet of milk chocolate, you will notice that it usually contains around 20-25% fat and 40-50% sugar.
It may also explain why we’ve become obsessed with avocado on toast – the combination of fats to carbs is near that perfect ratio.
But why do we crave this combination so much? Well, it has to do with the reward pathway in our brains – a system of reward and pleasure that releases dopamine into our system to create that natural hit or high.
Fatty foods trigger one reward pathway of signals in the brain while carb-loaded foods like grains take another route, when the signals are combined, they make foods more reinforcing.[2]
Food manufacturers know this aspect of nutritional science and use it to combine equal measures of fat and sugar to trigger your insatiable appetite for the perfect ratio!
What can you do to make sure you’re choosing wisely?
1.Well firstly, you’ve just made the first step, by reading my post here and learning about this ratio. Knowledge is the first step towards power.
2. Secondly, being aware of this and keeping it at the forefront of mind when you go food shopping or reach for that snack will help you make a conscious choice and that’s what it’s about. Being able to make a conscious choice when it comes to food. Because ultimately 9 times out of 10, we will choose the healthier option.
3. Thirdly – why not test this out, combine and create your perfect meal, then assess why you love it so much, does it have that perfect fat:carb ratio too? Head over to instagram and tag us with your #BlissPointRecipe
Sue Hay – Editor of Thrive Magazine and CEO of Thrive Media
Refs:
[1] https://news.yale.edu/2018/06/14/fat-and-carb-combo-creates-stronger-food-craving
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2326345
