Monday, September 21, 2009

Digestion - How the Eyes and Nose Digest Food

When you look at delicious food, you are experiencing a conditioned response. In other words, your thoughts say "Wow! That looks delicious and tasty!". Your thoughts then stimulate your brain which tells your digestive organs to get ready for some action.

When you smell food, what happens in your nose is entirely physical. The alluring aroma of tasty food gets transmitted by molecules which come off the surface of your food. These molecules settle on the membrane lining of your nostrils and stimulate the receptor cells on the olfactory nerve fibers. The olfactory nerve fibers stretch from your nose all the way back to your brain. The receptor cells communicates with your brain "Hey, there is good food here!".

Your brain will then send messages which alerts your mouth and your digestive track. The message your brain sends to your mouth is to start the saliva flowing. It will send a message to your stomach to warm up the stomach glands and will also send a message to your warm up your small intestine. Basically, the sight and scent of food can make your mouth water and your stomach hungry.

But wait a minute! What if you hate what you are smelling or seeing? For some people even the thought of liver and onions can make them want to vomit, or at least leave the room. At the current time, your body is trying to protect you. You are experiencing an rejection reaction. Which is similar when babies are given something that tastes sour or bitter. Your mouth sags and your nose wrinkles trying to keep the food as far away as possible. Your throat will also tighten and your stomach will turn. Not a very pleasant moment. But if you like what is on your plate, go ahead and take a bite.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home