4. High Caloric Density
Recall that as omnivores, we have a predilection for food high in caloric density (CD) or concentrated calories. The calculation is simple—just divide kcals by grams. Hence, a Big Mac would be 560 kcals/219 g, or 2.6, which puts it into the middleweight category.
2. Taste-Active Components and Salivation Generation
The Mac is loaded with all the ingredients that make food taste good—including the aptly named “Secret Sauce” (SS). The SS contains vinegar (arousal), egg yolks (emulsifier effect), HFCS, sugar (sweetness and addictiveness), onion and garlic powder (flavorants and umami boosters), hydrolyzed corn, wheat, and soy glutens (natural MSG and the hedonically active amino acid tastants).
Tasty foods may change gene expression and create a food addiction.
Humans may have an inherited preference for protein.
Very tasty food improves one’s mood, and may cause drug-like brain adaptation.
3. Toasting Changes the Dynamic of the Sandwich
Dynamic contrast works through many levels. And the next level is what heat does to the entire sandwich:
a. Many new flavor compounds are created via Maillard reactions or Strecker degradations; for example, the aromatic pyrazines, and the tasty melanoidins.
"People like grilled foods because they taste good". (Melanie Dubberley)
Quiznos introduced the sensory slogan “mmmm … TOASTY” as part of its major differentiation from the other sub shops. The question is whether toasty is better or just marketing hype? Since Quiznos is the most rapid growing new fast-food chain (4,400 franchises worldwide) and the third-ranked franchise, there must be strong physiology behind the toasting.
3. Garlic is a Special Trigeminal Stimulant
Fresh garlic burns the tongue with its own unique bite. Many of the foods we love—black pepper, hot peppers, and onions—have this burning sensation as well. The addition of this “orosensation” gives more pleasure to the ingestion of food. The nature of this stimulation was identified by the Scripts Institute and is described in Current Biology.
1. Garlic Aroma Has a “Long Hang-Time”
Why would this be important? In studies of nutritional-aroma conditioning, strong and longlasting aromas formed the best food-nutrient conditioning. No one can dispute that garlic aroma lingers around forever.
“All you need is fat, some herbs, garlic, salt and pepper.” (A. Bourdain)
Garlic has been used in food seasoning and medicine for many thousands of years. Mummies were buried with it (perhaps five thousand years ago), and a surprisingly large number of cultures cook with it, even if it was just recently introduced into their food supply (as is the case with the French).
4. KK Donuts have High Caloric Density
As we have seen, humans like food with lots of calories in small volumes.5 Consumption of an energy-dense food also stimulates the brain’s opioid centers, which in turn releases dopamine and pleasure neurotransmitters.
3. Donuts Melt Down Quickly
Like many of our most preferred foods, donuts (yeast-raised conglomerate of wheat flour fat and sugar) melt down quickly in the mouth upon mastication. Rapid food meltdown is rewarding, first by exciting dynamic contrast (DC) and food arousal, and secondly by releasing a flood of sugars that incite the sweet taste. The donuts are perfectly coated with thick icing and carefully packaged side by side (they don’t touch).
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