There’s A Scientific Reason Food Tastes Better When You’re Drunk
- 6 years ago
Why does food taste better when you’re drunk? There’s actually a scientific explanation for that.
“What’s going on in your mouth when you drink a glass of beer or a glass of wine and then eat some food is that your mouth has become a test tube.” Molecular Systematics Curator Robert Desalle PH.D explained. “All of your taste cells — the cells that send the messages to your brain about the tastes are on your tongue or most of them, and so the alcohol will flood those taste buds. As far as the enhancement of the taste, the enhancement is more in your brain. A lot of people report that things taste better after a few drinks. This is what’s behind the whole movement of paring food with, say a wine or paring food with a beer."
It all starts with Ethanol, a chemical compound found in all alcoholic beverages that causes psychoactive effects when ingested. Once it’s absorbed into your bloodstream, it circulates to your brain and affects your sense. Ethanol also releases molecules that make your brain think its hungry and amplify the things you eat. So the next time you’ve had a few drinks in you and start to chow down on your favorite foods, you’ll know why it tastes so heavenly.
“What’s going on in your mouth when you drink a glass of beer or a glass of wine and then eat some food is that your mouth has become a test tube.” Molecular Systematics Curator Robert Desalle PH.D explained. “All of your taste cells — the cells that send the messages to your brain about the tastes are on your tongue or most of them, and so the alcohol will flood those taste buds. As far as the enhancement of the taste, the enhancement is more in your brain. A lot of people report that things taste better after a few drinks. This is what’s behind the whole movement of paring food with, say a wine or paring food with a beer."
It all starts with Ethanol, a chemical compound found in all alcoholic beverages that causes psychoactive effects when ingested. Once it’s absorbed into your bloodstream, it circulates to your brain and affects your sense. Ethanol also releases molecules that make your brain think its hungry and amplify the things you eat. So the next time you’ve had a few drinks in you and start to chow down on your favorite foods, you’ll know why it tastes so heavenly.