Could mouthwatering advertisements be partly to blame for Britain’s obesity crisis?
According to a group of German researchers, we only have to look at pictures of delicious food to make us hungry.
Experts in Germany have found that the act of simply looking at images of tasty food is enough to change the level of the hormones that are responsible for controlling our appetite.
The study in question showed male volunteers pictures of delicious food and inedible objects whilst measuring their hormone levels at the same time.
The results of the research showed that levels of the appetite controlling hormone ghrelin, increased when the men were shown pictures of food – leading the experts who conducted the study to suggest that individuals looking to lose weight should avoid looking at appetising images of food.
Author of the study Petra Schüssler commented that the findings are the first to demonstrate that the release of ghrelin into the blood is also controlled by certain external factors.
‘We recommend that, where possible, individuals with weight problems should preferably avoid looking at images of appetising food.’ She said.
Study co-author Axel Steiger said that the scientific findings proving that the sight of delicious food could stimulate appetite, could mean that the presence of appetising food in the media could be contributing to weight increase in Western populations.
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