How We Eat with Our Eyes and Think with Our Stomachs: The Hidden Influences That Shape Your Eating Habits

We make hundreds of decisions about food every day. Some of them we know we’re making: What to eat, how to eat it, and many more. What we don’t know is how each of those decisions is influenced by our environment, the food industry, and our own irrational appetites. Now, How We Eat with Our Eyes and Think with Our Stomachs exposes the hidden influences on how we make those decisions and form eating habits—ultimately equipping readers to eat more intelligently. Drawing from the latest research in behavioral psychology, biology, and neuroscience, as well as from pop culture, journalist Melanie Mühl and psychologist Diana von Kopp focus on more than 40 compelling, distinct questions and issues: Why do we like the foods we like? Is it because of our environments? Family? Taste buds? (All three?) Is raw food healthier than cooked food? (No!) Why do people overeat? Keep reading, and find out. Take, for example, “The Color of Flavor”—can the average person taste the difference between red wine and white? What about once the white has been colored red? Is it surprising that they cannot? This may not be news to everyone—but where does this observation lead? That would be the psychological study of product experience, relied upon by the six-hundred-billion dollar food industry—and because of it, our cola is always dark (instead of clear) and butter is artificially colored yellow. Learn how we diet with our brain (Think you’re hungry? Think again.), feast with our feelings (Banning sugared soda? Anticipate a surge in consumption.), eat with our eyes (Don’t look at the buffet!), and other influences on our everyday eating habits. How We Eat with Our Eyes and Think with Our Stomachs enables us to become more intelligent about which questions are being asked, and offers insights that we’ll surely remember the next time we buy groceries, sit down at a restaurant, or go into the pantry looking for something to eat. Part 1. How you eat with your eyes The color of flavor: is there such a thing as blind faith at the dinner table? A plate of art: how much does it cost to eat with your eyes? Dish decisions: how does plating affect your appetite? All you can see: how do you control how much you eat at the buffet? Supermarket schemes: why do you always fail to stick to the shopping list? Celebrity advice fairy tales: what qualifies celebrities to give health advice and why do you listen? Part II. How you diet with your brain The raw food fallacy: how does cooking make you smart? Gluten anxiety: why do you keep falling for food myths? Carb phobia: how do carbohydrates help you survive? "Lose ten pounds fast!": you've tried every diet why don't any of them work? Enough is enough: why don't you know when you're full? Love, the anti-diet: is your partner making you fat? The doggie bag paradox: why should you think twice before taking your leftovers home? Part III. How you savor with your ears Music to your ... stomach: how does the sizzle make you salivate? Smack-and-slurp phobia: how can you tell if you're a misophonic? The flavor of music: what soundtrack should you play at your next dinner party? The perfect chip: how do you hear what you eat? The "unhealthy = tasty intuition": why does junk food sound so good? Status anxiety à la carte: why is the language of menus full of red herrings? Part IV. How you think with your stomach "How can you eat that?": why do some delicacies delight and others disgust you? The marketing-placebo effect: why is there no veritas in vino? The priming effect: why doesn't Häagen-Dazs ice cream come from Denmark? The health-halo effect: what do you think of as "healthy" and what actually is? The Romeo-and-Juliet effect: why does absence make your cravings stronger? Sleep yourself slim: how does what you eat affect how you sleep? The feeding clock: how can eating help you beat jet lag? Part V. How you feast with your feelings "I'll have what you're having": why do you order what you order at restaurants? Nudging: how do you choose what to eat in a cafeteria? The food radius: how can you shape your food environment and how does it shape you? The trophy kitchen syndrome: why doesn't renovating your kitchen always make you happy? Working lunch: for business, for pleasure, or for health? Fast manners: how did handling fast food get so out of hand? Stress-free slurping: why is drinking a milkshake so calming? The comfort food effect: why do you crave junk food when you're sad? Part VI. How you choose with your tongue Supertasters: do children who will eat only pasta have supertasting powers? Some like it hot: what does a fondness for spicy foods reveal about your character? Conditions of taste: are your favorite foods innate or selected through memory? Mind over meat: why do cats sit on your lap and cows on your plate? Hooray for haptics: how do you experience the pleasure of taste through touch? Taste the aroma: how do you taste what you smell? Chew on this: why should you treat forks with caution? The pineapple fallacy: why do you like what you like? “A remarkable book, which in an entertaining way takes a deep dive into our bodies... you'll never see (or taste) food the same way again!” —Martin Lindstrom, New York Times–bestselling author A Belgian chocolate cake topped with a velvety homemade mousse catches your eye on the menu. The next thing you know, you've ordered it—despite the hefty price. But do you know why?Through over 40 compelling questions, this book explores how our eating decisions tread the line between conscious and subconscious, and enables us to be more intelligent about food. With expert insights that draw from psychology, neuroscience, popular culture, and more, learn to see the innumerable influences behind your diet and cravings—from the size and color of your plate, to the placement of products in a supermarket, to the order in which you sit when out with friends.And the chocolate cake? Would you believe research shows that regional descriptions (Belgian!) and emotive, sensory language (homemade! velvety!) subtly affect your appetite? Know what and why you eat, when and how you do—before you next sit down to dine.“We make 200 conscious and unconscious decisions about food every day. Clearly, eating is no fun anymore. The authors want to cut through the juice cleanses and paleo diets to bring back some common sense.” —The New York Times Book Review“The connections between our emotions and the foods we choose are explored in fascinating detail.” —Parade.com“Offers easily digestible insights to help you make more conscious choices about what goes in your stomach.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution A Belgian chocolate cake topped with a velvety homemade mousse catches your eye on the menu. The next thing you know, you've ordered it--despite the hefty price. But do you know why?Through over 40 compelling questions, this book explores how our eating decisions tread the line between conscious and subconscious, and enables us to be more intelligent about food. With expert insights that draw from psychology, neuroscience, popular culture, and more, learn to see the innumerable influences behind your diet and cravings--from the size and color of your plate, to the placement of products in a supermarket, to the order in which you sit when out with friends. And the chocolate cake? Would you believe research shows that regional descriptions (Belgian!) and emotive, sensory language (homemade! velvety!) subtly affect your appetite? Know what and why you eat, when and how you do--before you next sit down to dine!