1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: Lauren vocal bomb here with a classic episode from the 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: podcast's archives. In this one, we discussed the psychology and 4 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: physiology behind a strange food phenomenon, how hot food can 5 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: seem more satisfying than cold food, even when both are 6 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: delicious and filling. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vocal bomb here. 7 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: You know that ravenously hungry feeling you get after going swimming. 8 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:33,479 Speaker 1: It feels like you could go to an all you 9 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 1: can eat buffet and make them rethink their business strategy. 10 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,560 Speaker 1: But although a salad, or a granola bar, or even 11 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: a nice smoothie would probably satisfy you, a voice echoing 12 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 1: out of the deepest recesses of your brain commands you 13 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 1: to feed it something warm, an entire pizza, perhaps, or 14 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: two giant bowls of puff extra frisket please. There could 15 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: be a lot of reasons why we crave warm foods 16 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: when we're especially hungry, but one of them probably has 17 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: to do with the link between smell and taste. We 18 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: spoke with doctor Stephensecker, an associate professor in the University 19 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: of Alabama Department of Biological Sciences who studies the physiological 20 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: design of digestive systems. He said, hot food emanates much 21 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: more airborne particles than cold foods, and since a large 22 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: part of our taste sensation also involves smell, hot food 23 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: would therefore provide positive reinforcement in its selection. Just consider 24 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: how quickly the smell of smoke from a barbecue can 25 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: make you feel hungry, or how no matter how tasty 26 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:32,760 Speaker 1: it will be, a cold gospot show simply doesn't stimulate 27 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: the senses like a warm chili. So even though we 28 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,119 Speaker 1: intellectually know that cold soup is going to be good 29 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: and fill us up, our olfactory apparatus hasn't yet been 30 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: appraised of the situation, making it hard to get all 31 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: the parts of the brain on the same gaspacho bandwagon. 32 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: But smell may not be the only reason we crave 33 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: a hot meal more than a cold one, or rather 34 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: it may signal a deeper reason. Since heating food on 35 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: locks calories and nutrients, we wouldn't be able to get 36 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: eating the food raw, and since our big brains are 37 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: very calorie needy, our preference for hot meals might have 38 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: something to do with our brains steering us towards the 39 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: most potential calories possible in the moment of hunger. According 40 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,959 Speaker 1: to Richard Wrangum, a biological anthropologist at Harvard and author 41 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,239 Speaker 1: of Catching Fire, How Cooking Made Us Human, the important 42 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,240 Speaker 1: comparison is between foods that are cooked and differ only 43 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:25,239 Speaker 1: in temperature. He said, hot food very likely yields more 44 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: net energy gain than cold food, partly because of changes indigestibility. 45 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: One example is that starch becomes increasingly refractory after hot 46 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: bread than cools, which could be one reason why we 47 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 1: like hot toast. In the case of lipid rich foods, 48 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: the closer of fat is to its melting point when eaten, 49 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 1: probably the easier it is digested. However, Secker clarifies that 50 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: chewing and the digestive process are both pretty good at 51 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: unlocking nutrients. He said that once you've cooked hamburger, for example, 52 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: eating it hot or cold would provide a negligible difference 53 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: in calories consumed and digestion effort. But there's also the 54 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:06,079 Speaker 1: nostalgia factor. Smell is the most nostalgia triggering sense. Researchers 55 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: aren't entirely sure why this is, but they think it 56 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: has to do with the physical way our brains handle 57 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: information in the parts known as the limbic system. The 58 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: limbic system includes the amygdala, which helps us process emotions, 59 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: the hippocampus, which processes and stores memories, and the olfactory bulb, 60 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: which processes scent input from our nasal cavity. There are 61 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: direct connections among these three brain bits. Studies have shown 62 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: that since create more positive and more emotional senses of 63 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: nostalgia than other triggers, and scientists think that's because of 64 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: these close connections among scent, emotion, and memory in our brains. 65 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: While there might be some selected drive hidden in our 66 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: behavior to crave cooked food for nutritional gains, our cravings 67 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: and our susceptibility to a rich scent in the air 68 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: is very likely driven by a nice memory of the 69 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: taste and smell of food right off the grill, or 70 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: the chicken soup that comforted you when you. 71 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 2: Were sick as a child. However, even small changes in 72 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 2: temperature can make a big difference in how satisfaction in 73 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 2: food is perceived. It's important to remember that the texture 74 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 2: of foods, and especially fats like those in cheese and 75 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 2: cheese substitutes, changes drastically within a relatively small temperature range. 76 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 2: For example, Cold Pizza Delight or Horror Discuss. 77 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article why hot food 78 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,719 Speaker 1: always seems so much more satisfying than cold Food on 79 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,160 Speaker 1: how stuffworks dot Com, written by Jesslinshields. Brain Stuff is 80 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,600 Speaker 1: production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuffworks 81 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more 82 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,160 Speaker 1: podcasts my heart Radio, visit the Airheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, 83 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:45,039 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.