Food Theory: Can Chocolate Make You Fall In LOVE?

so you're telling me this is a love potion i don't know stranger i just met on the street i am a bit skeptical how does it work what do you mean you drink it boom you're in love 50 bucks for the bottle final offer what i mean is what biological pathways does it involve endocrinologically speaking what's happening what hormones are being activated listen and what does the literature have to say about this love potion has it been double blind tested do you have studies does this even have fda approval it's 50 bucks to leave me alone okay final offer i'll take it works every time hello internet welcome to food theory this valentine's day we're giving you the gift of knowledge sorry can't return it we threw away the receipt as you know theorists february 14th is right around the corner and if you didn't know that i'd suggest you start making dinner reservations real quick long story short it is the season of love and nothing says love quite like food we're talking romantic dinners chocolates candy hearts and if you don't have a date this valentine's day statistics show there's a good chance stress eating will be involved but here's what i want to know on this the most romantic day of the year what's the most romantic food what should two lovebirds actually be ordering off the menu as you might imagine certain foods should be more effective at getting you in certain moods than others for instance the only mood fried chicken wings are putting me in is the mood for a nap that's right theorists today's episode is all about aphrodisiacs named after aphrodite the greek goddess of love aphrodisiacs are substances capable of arousing romantic desire now there's a ton of conflicting information out there on this topic a simple google search for aphrodisiacs turns up dozens of foods and products that'll supposedly get you in the mood meanwhile that same google search also yields dozens of results claiming the exact opposite that aphrodisiacs are a complete myth and i can't help but wonder if all the naysayers have it right after all if oysters chocolate coffee ginger maca pumpkin pine nuts apples avocado asparagus pomegranate celery watermelon strawberries cherry honey fish and tiger penis are all legitimate aphrodisiacs how in the heck would anyone get anything done so today we're gonna hear what science has to say about all this are aphrodisiacs real or not and if they are how do you use them to make the valentine's day meal to end all valentine's day meals they say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach but today we're making a pit stop to the brain to learn all about the real ins and outs of love food so all aboard the love train theorists cause today we're bringing you those hashtag afrodz facts don't feel obligated to use that hashtag by the way in fact you know what you know what don't i just said it and i immediately regretted it now then according to a team of scientists led by anthropologist dr helen fisher at rutgers romantic love can be broken down into three main categories lust attraction and attachment the reason for these three divisions is that different hormones are at play in different categories for example lust or the animalistic drive to reproduce can be linked to the hormones testosterone and estrogen the androgens when the brain's hypothalamus stimulates the production of more of these hormones the result is an increase in libido or higher sex drive next up is attraction which is similar to lust but distinct in that it utilizes the brain's reward pathways you know how there's that overwhelming infatuation that new partners experience in the early stages of a relationship well this is actually the result of positive rewarding neurotransmitters flooding your brain each time that you're with that person this is biologically what's meant by attraction and feelings of attraction are largely connected to the hormone dopamine as well as norepinephrine and serotonin last and probably most importantly is attachment eventually your brain is going to get tired of all those dramatic rushes of neurotransmitters the floods become less intense and your tolerance goes up this is the attachment phase the stage of comfortable stability that long-term romantic partners often achieve oxytocin sometimes referred to as the love hormone or alternatively the cuddle chemical as well as vasopressin promote this sort of deep bonding and it's worth mentioning that this effect isn't exclusive to romantic relationships attachment can also apply to deep interpersonal connections like friendships or the bond between a parent and a child okay so that breaks down chemically are three main types of love so knowing what hormones are at play the rest of the episode should be an absolute breeze right all we gotta do is identify the foods that trigger these hormones and bam that's our list of legitimate aphrodisiacs right if only it were that simple theorists take oysters for example here's a food that has a historical reputation as a natural aphrodisiac and was included on pretty much every pseudoscientific list of aphrodisiacs that i happened upon outside of chocolate covered strawberries and those chalky conversation hearts oysters are the go-to mood food for valentine's day apparently nothing says oh baby come hither quite like a mollusk with the texture of a loogie but sure we're gonna roll with that a common line of thinking i encountered in the research was that oysters contain zinc and zinc is key to testosterone production ergo oysters boost libido and well sure it's true that zinc is indeed part of a healthy diet it's basically doing the same thing to your sex drive as getting exercise or plenty of sleep you know what else gives you a lot of zinc beans and i ain't ever had any romance in my life after a big ol scoop of pintos same thing with oysters and the food and drug administration has concluded the same thing they directly addressed the oyster rumor in their website stating that there is no scientific evidence to suggest oysters and by proxy pinto beans are an aphrodisiac it's a similar story for a lot of the other would-be aphrodisiacs that promote hormones linked to attraction and attachment chocolate for example is another food with that age-old reputation for being a natural aphrodisiac chocolate increases serotonin and stimulates the release of dopamine which seemingly makes it a slam-dunk for lovers looking to boost their attraction plus you got foods like avocado and fatty fish which are great for the production of the attachment hormones oxytocin and vasopressin so it seems like they could be legit aphrodisiacs too and yet time and time again the clinical studies remind us that there's more to setting the mood with food than simply containing the correct chemicals according to dr michael crichman head of the southern california center for sexual health quote there is anecdotal and historical evidence that some of these plant-based substances may work although clinical studies have yet to conclusively demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of any craicman also adds that the fda feels much the same way based on the research that's been done out there even over-the-counter drugs that claim to contain aphrodisiac ingredients don't stand up to scientific scrutiny so that's a bit of a bummer when it comes to figuring out our scientifically ideal valentine's day dinner short of getting a prescription drug involved it would seem that there's no valentine's day dinner that's really capable of moving the romantic needle on its own so to speak however all of this is overlooking one key element psychology after all the hormones we've been discussing today all get triggered from your brain so before we go and write off oysters chocolate avocados and countless other historically acknowledged aphrodisiacs like tiger penis let's consider that pretty much anything can be an aphrodisiac if you believe it to be i'm talking about the placebo effect the phenomenon where an inactive substance with no known medical effect is able to get real results and as a matter of fact the placebo effect has been shown to be a more powerful aphrodisiac than any of the actual chemicals in the food that we've talked about today see if someone believes the food or drink they're ingesting has an amorous effect then it can absolutely become a self-fulfilling prophecy and if you are going so far as to eat bull testicles for a bedtime boost like some traditions do in india and china well you must really believe in the power of this stuff and it's here that we begin to see that psychology plays an all-important role in love the cocktail of hormones that make us feel lust attraction and attachment all take their marching orders from the brain and despite centuries of trying we still haven't found a food that can effectively cut the brain out of the process but here's what we have found there are some proven simple ways to steer things in the romantic direction and they don't really have a whole lot to do with food for example a 2008 study discovered that women are three times more likely to give their number to a guy if he has a dog multiple studies have shown that both men and women are perceived as more attractive when they wear the color red a 2014 study suggests that kindness can make you more attractive to others and studies have repeatedly shown that surprises intensify our emotions and boost our dopamine levels reactivating relationships that might be flatlining or feeling stale so in a roundabout way this does help us craft the ideal valentine's day dinner and it really has nothing to do with the food that you put on the table you surprise your loved one by making the meal yourself not only is it an exhibition of kindness that'll boost your attractiveness in a way that no food ever could the surprise element will snap your partner to attention as the brain floods with rewarding neurotransmitters and bonus points if you wear red and bring your dog so long story short eating supposed aphrodisiacs like honey aren't gonna make you more attractive to your loved one but using honey our sponsor for today's episode to save money on all your online purchases probably will because nothing is sexier than saving money honey is a free browser extension that scours the internet for promo codes and automatically tests someone you're checking out it's basically your online shopping best friend except instead of hitting you up for money this best friend saves you money the food theory team actually uses honey all the time on our productions the kitchen scale that amy used for all the measurements in our recent pizza episode not to brag but honey saved a cool 10 on that one and for our colonel sanders secret recipe episode where we had to find white pepper specifically from malaysia not only were we able to find some on a honey-supported site but we saved a couple of bucks in the process it's super simple first you get honey on your computer for free and two easy clicks one and two then when you're checking out on one of its 30 000 supported sites honey pops up you click apply coupons then wait a few seconds as honey searches for coupons on the site if honey finds a working code boom your prices drop so yeah it's safe to say that we here at food theory are all about the honey browser extension it's free and it works with whatever browser we happen to be using it's simple if you have a computer honey should be on it well not that honey unless of course you're into that sort of thing here's the deal theorists get honey for free today by going to joinhoney.com food theory i repeat joinhoney.com f-o-o-d-t-h-e-o-r-y but since that's a lot to type in just go to the top line of the descriptions and click it there that'll let them know that we sent you that we're a good partner to them and that they should continue helping to fund this show once again a huge thank you to honey for sponsoring today's episode and always friends remember it's all just a theory a food theory

Channel: The Food Theorists

Views: 1,353,234

Rating: 4.9520302 out of 5

Keywords: valentine's day, valentines day, aphrodisiac, chocolate, oysters, love food, love potion, do aphrodisiacs work, science of aphrodisiacs, valentine's day recipe, oyster recipe, chocolate recipe, chocolate cake, romanic recipe, romantic, sugar, recipe, dessert recipe, dinner recipe, food science, science of food, taste science, alton brown, food theorists, food theory, matpat, film theory, game theory, binging with babish, eat the menu, without a recipe, cake, dessert, valentine

Id: hRfSZSSboNE

Length: 10min 55sec (655 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 11 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/LAD-LADERS6]

Coffee Is the best aphrodisiac I found love at starbucks