If Food Doesnt Make You Happy Im Not Sure What Could
good morning everyone
so we often ask ourself a question do we
eat to live or we live to eat some of us
would actually think that they would
need a cup of coffee in the morning to
energize and boost up my name is maja
Dawid and I’m here today to give you a
better insight about what’s going on
between food and our brains start with
I’ve been always interested in the art
of cooking in one hand and the link
between food and psychology on the other
hand yet I’ve actually never knew how is
that happening
I found that almost all research is done
on the effect or the link between food
and psychology and the effect of food on
our mood and the effect of our mood on
our decisions on what to eat all focuses
on one perspective which is a consumer
perspective but not the chefs or cooks
perspective which I believe is as
important as the first at the end every
day these people are cooking for you so
if there is a relationship a connection
between their mood and the food that
they’re cooking this is definitely going
to affect you as a customer it all
starts in our brain in the center of our
brain we have what we call biochemical
transmitters or neuro transmitters these
transmitters are basically messengers
that are there to control our mood our
behaviors and our appetite for example
the mean free food related the
transmitters are what we called
serotonin dopamine and Europe a feeling
we’re not gonna get into details of that
and Matt’s is scientific she’ll talk
we’re gonna stick to the food part so
other than that we have another group of
what we call stimulants and the very
good example of that is found in
caffeine caffeine or coffee we always
drink coffee every day and caffeine
actually is a good source of reducing
your stress and it’s actually a good at
the present on the short-term but on the
long term and if over consumed it
actually could cause your dehydration
and mood swings so a part of that we
have another group of what we call
endorphins that are also influences that
affect us that affect our brain and a
very good example and of that is found
in dark chocolate or in cacao cacao is
known to comfort you too easy you to
make you feel a bit relaxed and that’s
why dark chocolate is a very
and component in nearly all diet or
healthy diet plans as an alternative for
a dessert or a snack so moving forward a
part of the brain we have another main
component which is the thinking the way
we think about food is a very important
factor the way we perceive food and
that’s why the way food is presented to
us is very important it’s a very simple
process that our body works I it’s the
same as it’s a process similar to the
telephone where we have a sender and we
have a receiver and then between we have
a translation of responses so in our
case the sender is being the images that
we formed about the food that we intend
to eat even before start eating that
food and the receiver is our body and as
we said between we have a translation of
responses where they are positive or a
negative let’s take an example if I’m
going to have where anyone knew any one
of you going to have a burger if you go
having a burger with a guilt-free a
happy mind what’s going to happen is
basically you’re gonna form a positive
picture in your brain and that will
translate into a response within your
body that will end up in fully
metabolizing and free digesting that
burger
when at the contrary if you go with a
guilty mind set what can happen is
basically gonna form a negative image of
that burger and what’s gonna happen is
that your body will respond to that by
increasing the level of insulin and
cortisol antibody and hence you will end
up restoring more fat out of that burger
so whenever you want to have a burger
just go with a guilt-free mindset
another very good example would be
having a healthy piece and a junk please
or a junk restaurant in front of a gym
if you think of it both are of a very
great business models the difference is
we will have a group of people who would
appreciate having a healthy place as
part of their lifestyle and they will
end up going there often and on the
other hand we’ll also have people who
would also appreciate a job place as a
place of very word after an intense
workout so they will both end up working
perfectly and very well so it’s a matter
of thinking it really goes back to the
way we think the way we perceive food
and the images that we form before we
intend to eat but now a lot of you would
actually ask
but what is it that bad food that is
actually affecting us it all goes back
to one thing it’s that taste and the
taste buds we have five main tastes
their taste buds we have the sweet we
have the sour we have the salty we have
the bitter and we have the fifth which
what we call the umami flavor or the
fusion flavor which is basically a mix
of different flavors in one component so
the more of a flavors we can get the
better of an umami flavor we could reach
and nowadays the umami flavor or the
fusion flavors are becoming a trend and
modern culinary cuisine and that’s
because of the ability to enhance your
food experience even before it starts or
actually after it starts by providing
you with the set of variety of different
flavors all in one component but also
the taste and the taste but since all
our T’s and these buds are also affected
and influenced by manufactures for
example we have preferences the flavors
are alike is different than the flavors
that you like the fidelity visa
anyone else likes we have expectations
how is the food in relation to the image
that I have formed before in hand we
also have and color also before color
we’re gonna come to this right now
but before curry we have service that
service can easily when you’re
experienced by distracting you by
distracting your tastebuds
we have context Who am I with and where
I am this is definitely of a big
influence to you the interior decor the
place the atmosphere of the place it
could easily either comfort you or
stress you out
we also have sound the more in the sound
of our own ships the more you would
perceive that as fresh and that’s why if
we look at marketing ads focusing on
food they all focus at the sound part
because it actually triggers your taste
buds into tasting better we also have
hunger in terms of hunger you produce
more saliva in your mouth so you’ll end
up eating faster and less tasting
complex flavors also have colors colors
are highly linked to food we tend to
perceive in color as fresh as citrus
flavors and red as in being sweet one
science ketchup introduced the colored
bottle campaign they actually feel big
time and you know why because when
people asked about their opinion they
said that the actual taste was different
than the perceived one in their mind in
comparison to the college that they had
or they’ve seen at the end they were all
the same exact taste but the colors were
different and that’s was the confusion
that happened to the customers I also
have emotions in terms of stress our
ability to taste sweet flavors decreases
and that’s why whenever you’re stressed
you go and hunt for sweet flavors more
and more and you end up eating more
because you have you want more of that
taste or that flavor to have to be able
to get the same things that you used to
have before we also have age as we age
of time our ability to taste also
decreases and sometimes we would need up
to nine times more of the same exact
flavor to get the same this we used to
get before we also have description it’s
really really interesting how someone
can deceive someone’s mind only by using
certain words for example I can get a
piece of meat and sell it to you by
saying this is a Wahoo a grass-fed
quaint high quality premium fresh or a
word such as the handmade health but
these are all words that are there to
dis to to enhance your experience even
before it starts to make you be able to
form better images about the food that I
do intend to eat so after we’ve formed
this relationship some of us would
actually ask that is there any
particular food that I can eat to feel
good or other food that can actually
make me feel bad the answer is
absolutely yes foods that I which in
vitamins proteins and fibers are known
to be mood boosters and that’s because
they enhances your moves by lowering the
absorption of carbs a new to your
bloodstream and therefore they increase
the level of dopamine which was what we
called a mood modulated on the other
hand we have other type of food such as
refined sugar or complex carbs they are
known to be a mood Buster they actually
give you a negative mood and the wines
that why that happens it’s because of
the rush that they give you at the
beginning followed by a crash
after that that’s why junk food is
always good to have on the short-term
and it will actually satisfy on the
short-term but it will never give you a
good mood on the long term so now that
we have I hope a better understanding of
of this link between the food and
psychology and the effect on us how can
we as chefs as a restaurant owners as
operators utilize this information to
better apply to better serve you as
customers one of the biggest challenges
is in modern a food and beverage world
is consistency but sometimes it’s not
it’s not the inconsistency of food
that’s being a problem but rather the
inconsistency of your mind of our
mindset as costumers therefore
understanding that or understanding our
current customer state of mind is
important for us in a success of our
business it’s a simple process that we
need to go by first of all we need to
understand and the current mindset and
status that our customers are having
second we need to understand the link
between food and psychology and the
effect of food on earth and on our mood
and the effect of our mood on our
decisions on where to eat and what to
eat and third we need to translate that
into an experience that starts with
giving you the ability to form big our
great pictures about the food that you
intend to eat followed by a great
atmosphere and service and last but not
least well combined and well studied
variety of flavors more than 50% of your
food journey is about psychology so the
next time you go wanna grab a bite just
try to take a minute and think what is
it basically that I’m feeling right now
what is my current mood where’s my
carrot mindset this will definitely be
able to help you in taking better
decisions on where to eat or with whom
to go and eat after that try to pick the
food that actually suits your current
mood that will actually make you feel
better on the long term and not just on
the short term just ask yourself three
questions first of all what is it that
are meeting
try to break it down into basic
ingredients and compare them to
each other whether it’s protein its
greens its carbohydrates what is it
exactly the main components of the thing
that you are eating second why am i
eating just ask yourself is it the
Armwood is it that I’m hungry
is it that I’m lonely I’m sad what is it
basically that’s making you eat and that
will also help you in understanding
yourself and picking the flavors that
you should be eating after that ask
yourself how will I be feeling
afterwards and by that we don’t mean by
physically only but emotionally as well
that is it going to be a good mood
booster on the long-term which is going
to be a temporary mood and temporary
short period of time and gonna bust my
mood after that try to understand that
try to think of that but at the end of
the day wherever you go and wherever you
have and whenever you go just make sure
to always go with a happy mind and
positive to it thank you so much
[Applause]