The scientific reason why you exaggerate Easter eggs

If you make enough effort, you will be able to resist the excessive consumption of pudding during the Christmas period, from Pavlova at the beginning of the year, cakes on your birthday and biscuits on ANZAC day.

But as far as Easter is concerned, there's just something about those damn chocolate eggs that makes them irresistible. Now the taste experts at Deakin University's Center for Advanced Sensory Science (CASS) have identified the scientific reason for this addiction.

According to Professor Russell Keast, director of CASS, chocolate is the perfect combination of sugar and fat that no other food can replicate.

"Sugar activates sweetness that is satisfying and leads to consumption, while fat is high in energy and increases the pleasure of eating chocolate with the ideal mouthfeel that consumers really appreciate," says Keast.

"There are no natural foods that combine fats and sugars; there is no chocolate tree. So, in terms of evolution, our brain goes, "wow, fantastic, consumes more". "

The balance between the two products present in chocolate is different from any other food that the brain actually forgets about any discomfort felt during your last excessive consumption of chocolate.

"The combination of these elements creates a very positive taste for chocolate, and even if we eat too much and start to feel bad, we easily forget that feeling and, the next time we have a chance to overeat, we do it again. "

What your brain only remembers from your chocolate-coma past is its delicious taste.

"We can overcome the short-term overconsumption that makes us uncomfortable because the high energy density is received positively by the body – so you need only remember the joy of consumption."

Interestingly, the variations of darkness and milk play a role in determining our consumption.

A CASS colleague, Dr. Gie Liem, explained that the reason that dark chocolate is healthier than its milk equivalent is not due to its lower caloric value, but simply because its bitter taste is what we have tend to eat less.

"The intense flavor of bitter chocolate and the usually harder texture make us stop faster than if we ate milk chocolate," he said.

"It has been shown that people feel more satisfied or satisfied and have less desire to eat something sweet, fat or salty after consuming dark chocolate compared to milk chocolate."

However, despite several scientific claims, Liem claims that dark chocolate is far from being a health food.

"There are many myths about antioxidants and the benefits of chocolate. You have to eat a very large amount of chocolate so that the antioxidants that it contains (if any) benefit, "he said.

"If you eat so much chocolate, you'd better worry about the amount of calories you consume."

So, what is the solution to definitely stop your excessive consumption of binge eating? Liem suggests you do not completely deprive or indulge in your chocolate addiction. moderation is the absolute key.

"Studies evaluating self-reported food cravings consistently make chocolate one of the most popular foods. And other studies show that deprivation of chocolate aroma leads to an increase in consumption after deprivation, "he explained.

"Thus, self-confessed chocolatiers could benefit from moderation rather than categorical refusal because of the susceptibility to frenzy in response to a ban on chocolate. A good mantra of living is all in moderation. "