Taste buds stimulated by hunger

Hunger can increase cravings for fatty food

A scientist has produced evidence to confirm what anyone on a diet could tell you - that food tastes better when you are hungry.

Professor Yp Zverev at the University of Malawi experimented on 16 men who agreed to forfeit breakfast each day.

He found the volunteers had increased sensitivity to salt and sugar when hungry, but were equally sensitive to bitterness before and after eating.

The study was published in the journal BMC Neuroscience.

A link to obesity

Professor Zverev said the constant recognition of bitterness suggests the body is able to detect substances that are toxic.

"There are many things that drive us to eat, one is hunger, and one is palatability." Amanda Wynne, British Dietetic Association

He said this is the body's natural mechanism for rejecting food that is not suitable for consumption.

He suggests that a person has a higher sensitivity to salt and sugar when hungry because the body is trying to tell the person they need to eat.

After eating, volunteers' sensitivity to salt and sugar reduced significantly.

None of the participants were drinkers, smokers, or suffered from obesity or bad hygiene. Any one of these factors can normally impair a person's ability to taste.

Amanda Wynne, spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, said the findings suggest people have a natural disposition towards fatty foods.

"This study confirms what you expect to happen as the hunger drive kicks in," she told BBC Online.

"There are many things that drive us to eat, one is hunger, and one is palatability.

"We live in a country with extremely high rates of obesity. so it is interesting that our taste buds take us to these foods."

She believes our genes are not yet adapted to the society we live in, as in the past, being able to put on weight quickly was a good way of storing fat reserves for when food was scarce.

"These days we don't need that fat reserve, which is why we're seeing such a high obesity rate."

Obesity rates in the UK have trebled in the last 20 years.