Why hunger is so powerful, according to science
[Photo: Pexels]
It’s hard to do anything when you’re hungry - other than eat, of course. Even if you’ve got a killer deadline around the corner at work, or are at a first date, the need to shovel food into your mouth easily overtakes all of your other concerns.
And this isn’t because we’re weak minded - hunger is a powerful motivating force, and now there’s the science to back this up.
According to a recent study on mice published in journal Neuron, hunger really does outweigh our other physical drives such as fear, thirst, and social needs.
[Photo: Pexels]
Live Science reports that researchers carried out a series of hunger-based experiments on mice. In one, they were both hungry and thirsty, and when they were given the choice of drinking water or eating food, tended to go for the food.
But when the mice were well fed, but thirsty, they went for the drink instead.
When it comes to fear, hungry mice were placed in a cage that had “fox scented” (seemingly dangerous) areas as well as safer areas, and were still willing to venture into less-safe areas in order to get food.
But when they were full, they all gathered into the ‘safe’ areas.
[Photo: Pexels]
And finally - while mice tend to be social creatures - when hungry, they seemed more than happy to go it alone to get food in the final experiment.
As well as observing their behaviour, scientists also had a look at the mice’s brains, and figured that a specific type of nerve cell plays a big role in how mice search for food and behave.
In other words, we could be pretty hard wired to prioritise food over just about anything else.
What do you think about this study? Tweet us at @YahooStyleUK.
Average Brit has tried at least three different diets this year
