Scientific study
A bowl full of happiness: Eating pasta really does make you happier
Eating pasta makes you happy
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Good news for all pasta lovers: Scientists at the University of Milan have proven that pasta and happiness are one and the same.
We’ve always known it: a bowl of pasta could be the key to happiness. At least that’s what a new study suggests, carried out by the “Behavior & Brain Lab” at the Free University of Languages and Communication (IULM) in Italy. The study, which examined emotional and neurophysiological mechanisms that underpin feelings of happiness when eating pasta, concluded that pasta consumption triggers a “powerful and sustained positive emotional-cognitive state.”
The research shows that pasta is associated not only with happiness, but also with family gatherings and friendship. Around 70 percent of the study participants felt “overwhelming happiness” when eating pasta, and around 40 percent would describe pasta as comfort food, i.e. food that comforts.
Why does pasta make you happy?
Tryptophan is thought to be primarily responsible for the mood-enhancing properties of pasta. An amino acid that in several biochemical steps is converted into serotonin. This messenger substance is best known as the happiness hormone. The complex carbohydrates that have been found in pasta also stimulate endorphins. It is the first time that scientific research has examined the emotions that pasta evokes.
To reach these results, the researchers used neuroscientific and brain-tracking methods similar to those of lie detectors that analyze facial expressions, emotional brain activation and heart rate. 40 test subjects took part in the study, including an equal number of men and women between the ages of 25 and 55. The study is not representative with such a small number of participants, but it does provide initial clues.
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Professor Vincenzo Russo, Professor of Consumer Psychology and Neuromarketing at IULM University and founder and coordinator of the “Behavior & Brain Lab IULM”, told the media publication “Malta Daily” that “through this study, science has put itself at the service of emotions to confirm that pasta and happiness are one.”
He reported that the results show that “we are most emotionally active when we eat pasta.” “It is therefore the real act of tasting and enjoying the dish in its full flavor that stimulates the most positive memories and emotions,” says the professor. “This cognitive and emotional activation determined by the taste of the pasta is so strong, pleasant and captivating that it lasts even moments after eating.”
Sources: “IULM”, “Malta Daily”