TMHS 640: The Shocking Way Your Brain Interprets Food as Information

Humans have a complex and intimate connection with out of our most basic needs: food. In our culture, food can serve many purposes including memories, joy, and connection. And because every cell in your body is created from the food you eat, your diet also has a profound impact on the way your body functions on a daily basis.

On this compilation episode of The Model Health Show, you’re going to hear two of my conversations with award-winning science journalist and author, Mark Schatzker. Mark has extensively studied our society’s relationship with food and flavor, and how our brain drives our cravings. These conversations are centered around how your brain interprets food as information, the science of flavor, and what causes obesity.

Mark’s work covers important topics like how our weight is controlled by our brain, how our brain interprets sweetness, and what we can do to heal our society’s broken relationship with food. Understanding the way your brain interprets food is a critical piece of finding balance and health; I hope this episode is both insightful and empowering.

In this episode you’ll discover:

• The experience that inspired Mark to study flavor.
• How cattle eat intuitively, and what we can learn from them.
• Why the production of US crops has changed over the last few decades.
• The interesting link between flavor and nutrition.
• What a gas chromatograph is.
• Why most tomatoes in the grocery store have an underwhelming flavor. 
• How our food system’s focus on quantity and price undermines flavor.
• What we can learn about obesity and food addiction from brain scans.
• Why the combination of flavor and sugar makes food addicting.
• What retronasal olfaction is.
• The truth about calorie consumption and weight gain.
• An interesting phenomenon that occurs when calorie counts are featured on menus.
• The traditional diet in Bologna, Italy, and how their obesity rates compare to the US.
• What happened in the pellagra epidemic, and which vitamin eradicated the disease.
• How the brain regulates your body weight.
• The perplexing question of obesity.
• What the bliss point is.
• How the brain interprets food as information.
• What nutritive mismatch is.
• The unintended consequences of fortifying foods.
• Why experiencing pleasure with food is so important.

Items mentioned in this episode include:

• Beekeepersnaturals.com/model -- Save 25% on raw honey & other natural remedies!
• PiqueLife.com/model -- Use code MODEL at checkout for 10% off!
• The Science of Flavor & the Dorito Effect with Mark Schatzker – Episode 305
• The Hidden Connection Between Calories & Flavor with Mark Schatzker – Episode 542
• The History of Sugar – Episode 222
• The Dorito Effect by Mark Schatzker
• The End of Craving by Mark Schatzker
• Steak by Mark Schatzker

Join TMHS Facebook community - Model Nation 

Be sure you are subscribed to this podcast to automatically receive your episodes: 

• Apple Podcasts
• Stitcher
• Spotify
• Soundcloud

Download Transcript