What is it actually that makes sugary foods more delicious and how come that most of the population would prefer a cake (for example) instead of salad for instance?
In: Biology
/u/lanalmira is right, it’s (most likely) an evolution thing.
Food rich in sugar and fats are called palatable food. Initially, those aliments were very hard to find and were consumed when found because it promoted survival for reasons of their high caloric density. Since palatable food became more available those past years and we didn’t have the time to overcome this evolutionnary aspect or to decrease our consumptions, we are still most likely attracted by those aliments because they promote survival (inconsciously).
Now what happens is that fat food or high in sugar food activate a region in the brain called the reward system. This system promotes survival and encourages/motivates you to feed yourself, drink water, have sex etc. Eating palatable food encourages you later on to seek again those tupe of food and motivates you again to eat high in sugar high in fat aliments. That’s how you get food cravings.
This system is also hijacked by drugs and is very much involved in addiction because long term use can make you believe that drugs/alcohol are promoting your survival.
Your body is hard wired to want calorie dense foods. Back at the dawn of our species, getting enough food to survive was difficult. So we evolved cravings for fats, sugars, and meats.
Ita an evolutionary thing. Humans need sugar and fat to properly function. Early hominids and our ape cousins had a hard time getting ahold of these items. As such we developed a physical response of joy when we found them.
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