The press has revealed a taste of the future, where a clever cocktail of electronics will change water into wine and trick our senses. Fancy giving it a try?
Nature hands us a whole spectrum of rich and varied colours, literally on our plates! Not only do we eat pigments and molecules, but we use some of them as colouring agents. Red, yellow, pink and green are just some of the rainbow of colours in our food.
Throughout human history, people have used plant extracts as medicines, balms, beverages and flavourings as well as for processing food, to make cheese for example.
Besides personal preference and being a fun thing to do, what really goes on in the brain when you eat in the dark? We decided to find out more by dining in the Parisian restaurant Dans le noir. As a result of not being able to see, we became particularly aware of changes in our sensory perceptions.
Our digestive system is like a biochemical factory. The pancreas sends enzymes to the mouth, the stomach and the gastrointestinal tract to break down the foods we eat and liberate their nutrients which will in turn feed our bodies and brains. Unused food residues leave our body via the colon as faeces.
The brain is one of the most complex structures in the universe. It contains about 100 billion neurones, about the same number of stars in all the galaxies of the known universe. It takes in everything relating to the body’s external and internal environments and gives signals to act accordingly.
What is it exactly that makes us feel hungry? And what are the mechanisms that tell us we’ve eaten enough? Science has taken huge strides forward in understanding the processes that maintain a healthy balance between food intake and energy expenditure … and what to do when things go wrong.