Head First

FOOD REWARD 🍰🍿🍦🍫
 
Food reward is such an interesting concept and explains some of the reason why our cravings and our motivation for food are so linked to external and internal factors.
 
🧠Dopamine is commonly known as the reward chemical in the brain, however it’s also involved in motivation. Interestingly, it’s produced when we expect a reward (not just when we get a reward).
 
😋 What happens is that when the brain thinks a reward might be coming, it increases our motivation to engage in the behaviour that gives us the reward.
 
 
🤤Think about all the times we’ve linked watching a movie with chocolate or popcorn!
 
🍫 And then if we plan to watch a movie (after all our previous associations) we start thinking ‘Oh I’d love some chocolate and popcorn’ and we seek it out.
 
🧠 This is a (very simplified) example of when we pair a trigger/cue with a behaviour/reward.
 
💜The interesting thing is that we can pair the reward with internal and external experiences. For example, we might have that same drive for food when we feel emotional. We might have it when we go out for dinner with friends. We might have it when we see an advertisement.
 
🧠The triggers in these cases make our brain expect a reward, and this stimulates motivation to engage in the rewarding behaviour!

One of the challenges is trying to find a replacement behaviour to give us a reward instead of rewards solely coming from food. The reason it’s difficult is some foods are carefully manufactured to be highly palatable and rewarding! It can be difficult to compete with for other rewarding behaviours.
 
Does this explain all of our eating behaviour?
 
Absolutely not!
 
This is one part of why we eat the way we do.
 
This is a simplistic, Instagram friendly version of what is an incredibly complex, and still not fully understood, area.

I hope you find it as interesting as I do!