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- Researchers claim that “soft caresses” are less pleasurable when you’re hungry
- They say this unusual effect is due to the “hunger hormone” ghrelin
From lighting candles to playing soft jazz music, there are many things you can do to set the mood for sex.
But now a study suggests that there’s another important thing you should do before heading to the bedroom: eat.
Researchers from the University of Oslo claim that ‘soft caresses’ make you feel less pleasant when you’re hungry.
They say this unusual effect is due to ghrelin, also known as the “hunger hormone.”
“Besides its established role as an appetite-stimulating hormone, ghrelin is also involved in assigning value to social rewards such as touch,” the researchers explained.
One study suggests that there’s another important thing you should do before heading to the bedroom: eat
Ghrelin is a hormone produced and released mainly by cells in the stomach, but small amounts are also released by the small intestine, pancreas, and brain.
It is often called the “hunger hormone” because it stimulates appetite, increases food intake, and promotes fat storage.
However, previous studies have found that this hormone is also linked to other rewards.
Writing in their study, published in Psychophysiology“Besides food, ghrelin’s effect also extends to other types of rewards,” the researchers wrote.
“For example, taking it causes mice to consume more alcohol and increases the motivation to self-administer heroin in mice.”
The team, led by Daniela Pfabjan, set out to understand whether the hormone also has an effect on the pleasure of touch.
Sixty participants were asked to come to the laboratory for testing on two separate days.
On the first “food” day, participants arrived at 15:00 after fasting from 09:00, and were then given a liquid meal and a banana.
The next day, they also fasted until they arrived, but they were not fed anything.
Researchers from the University of Oslo claim that ‘soft caresses’ make you feel less pleasant when you’re hungry
Blood tests confirmed that on the “fed” day, their ghrelin levels decreased after eating, while the levels remained high on the “fasting” day.
On both days, participants’ right leg was cleaned at different speeds while their brains were scanned using an fMRI scanner.
Participants were asked to rate how strong the touch was, as well as how pleasant the touch was.
The results revealed that touches were rated as slightly more pleasant on ‘food’ days than on ‘fasting’ days.
The researchers highlight that this effect was small at only 2%.
However, they say the findings could have important implications across a “broad range of fields”.
“For example, this could mean that touch for well-being reasons, such as a relaxing massage, has a more positive effect after a meal than on an empty stomach,” they wrote.
“Reduced pleasure from non-food rewards can also contribute to difficulty sticking to a weight-loss diet.”
(Tags for translation) Daily Mail