Sweets, Sex, or Self-Esteem? Comparing the Value of Self-Esteem Boosts with Other Pleasant Rewards.

“Many people ascribe great value to self-esteem, but how much value? Do people value self-esteem more than other pleasant activities, such as eating sweets and having sex? Two studies of college students (Study 1: N=130; Study 2: N=152) showed that people valued boosts to their self-esteem more than they valued eating a favorite food and engaging in a favorite sexual activity. (more…)

Immediate effects of chocolate on experimentally induced mood states.

“In this work two hypotheses were tested: (1) that eating a piece of chocolate immediately affects negative, but not positive or neutral mood, and (2) that this effect is due to palatability. Experiment 1 (48 normal-weight and healthy women and men) examined the effects of eating a piece of chocolate and drinking water on negative, positive and neutral mood states induced by film clips. (more…)

“Disgust is an emotional response that helps to maintain and protect physical and spiritual purity by signaling contamination and motivating the restoration of personal cleanliness. In the present research we predicted that disgust may be elicited by contact with outgroup religious beliefs, as these beliefs pose a threat to spiritual purity. Two experiments tested this prediction using a repeated taste-test paradigm in which participants tasted and rated a drink before and after copying a passage from an outgroup religion. (more…)

Neatness counts. How plating affects liking for the taste of food.

“Two studies investigated the effect that the arrangement of food on a plate has on liking for the flavor of the food. Food presented in a neatly arranged presentation is liked more than the same food presented in a messy manner. (more…)

Fear signals inhibit impulsive behavior toward rewarding food objects.

“We examined whether presentation of environmental cues that are associated with motor inhibition, i.e., fearful facial expressions, can be effective in controlling unintentionally evoked impulses toward rewarding food objects. Participants were presented with palatable foods or control objects. During presentation of the objects, facial expressions displaying fear, disgust, or neutral emotion were shortly presented. (more…)

“The effect of milk and milk components on the deodorization of diallyl disulfide (DADS), allyl methyl disulfide (AMDS), allyl mercaptan (AM), allyl methyl sulfide (AMS), and methyl mercaptan (MM) in the headspace of garlic as well as in the mouth- and nose-space after garlic ingestion was investigated using selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS). (more…)

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of a cookie in comparison with time-lapse photographic analysis (TLPA) during baking process.

“Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been used to study the baking of a cookie. The structural and dynamic changes occurring during baking have been monitored, including changes in the internal moisture saturations and distribution. (more…)

“We examined the effects of the odors from mother’s milk, other mother’s milk and formula milk on pain responses in newborns undergoing routine heelsticks. Forty-eight healthy infants were assigned to four groups, an own mother’s breast milk odor group (Own MM), another mother’s breast milk odor group (Other MM), a formula milk odor group (Formula M) and a control group. (more…)

Ironic effects of dietary supplementation: illusory invulnerability created by taking dietary supplements licenses health-risk behaviors.

“The use of dietary supplements and the health status of individuals have an asymmetrical relationship: The growing market for dietary supplements appears not to be associated with an improvement in public health. Building on the notion of licensing, or the tendency for positive choices to license subsequent self-indulgent choices, we argue that because dietary supplements are perceived as conferring health advantages, use of such supplements may create an illusory sense of invulnerability that disinhibits unhealthy behaviors. (more…)

It’s CMAJ week on NCBI ROFL! All this week we’ll be featuring articles from the Canadian Medical Association Journal’s holiday issues. Enjoy!

“The presence of an accessory dessert pouch of the stomach has been postulated informally for years. These claims are often made near the end of a holiday feast, after the main course as thoughts turn to the pending arrival of pies, cakes, ice cream and pastries. A review of the medical literature, however, finds no mention of such a pouch. Indeed, the pouch has never been described in the anatomical record. Where, then, does dessert go, given that people often eat it after proclaiming themselves “full”? An alternative hypothesis suggests that dessert “fills in the cracks” between earlier courses. We developed the present study to address the hypothesis that an accessory pouch within, or attached to, the stomach provides the anatomic and physiologic requirements for dessert containment and absorption. (more…)