When hunger finds no fault with moldy corn: Food deprivation reduces food-related disgust.

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to examine if disgust toward unpalatable foods would be reduced among food-deprived subjects and if this attenuation would occur automatically even under moderate levels of food deprivation. Subjects were either satiated or food deprived for 15 hours and electromyographic activity was recorded at the levator muscle region while they were watching pictures of palatable versus unpalatable foods, and pictures of positive versus disgust-related control pictures. For control purposes, subjects' activity of the zygomaticus and corrugator muscles was also recorded. As compared with satiated subjects, food-deprived subjects exhibited stronger activity in the zygomaticus muscle region when watching pictures of palatable foods (but not when watching positive control pictures). More important, hungry subjects exhibited weaker activity in the levator muscle region when watching pictures of unpalatable foods (but not when watching disgusting control pictures). Thus, this is the first study ever to show that specific emotions (disgust) are moderated by homeostatic dysregulation automatically. Results indicate that the modulation of facial expressions might play an important role in lowering the threshold for food intake.

Human pathogen avoidance adaptations

“…Estimates of kinship can inform the inclusive fitness benefits of helping behaviors that requires physical contact [49] Mothers perceive their own baby's feces soiled diaper to smell less bad than other babies' diapers, both when the source of the diaper is known and when the mother is blind to the identity of the diaper Nutritional status Individuals should be more willing to accept the potential costs of infection via food if nutrients are more needed [50] Participants who fasted before an experiment expressed less disgust toward images of spoiled foods than participants who had not fasted (see also [51]) Ability to combat pathogens…”

Task-Based and Questionnaire Measures of Inhibitory Control Are Differentially Affected by Acute Food Restriction and by Motivationally Salient Food Stimuli in Healthy Adults

“…Motivational salience attributed to food stimuli is easily manipulated by asking participants to abstain from eating. Thus, in a food deprived (fasted) state, food appears more pleasant, elicits less disgust, facilitates approach reactions, and is associated with enhanced startle reflexes and increased heart rate (Drobes et al, 2001; Seibt et al, 2007; Hoefling et al, 2009). In addition, increased attentional bias toward food has been demonstrated in people who are hungry/fasted (Castellanos et al, 2009) or are sensitive to external food cues (Brignell et al, 2009).…”

Disgust Sensitivity Is Not Associated with Health in a Rural Bangladeshi Sample

“…Finding the right balance of cost and benefit is an important problem, and one solution lies in facultative expression of the protective system. In humans, food disgust sensitivity appears to decline when the costs of rejection increase, i.e., when people are hungry [12]. Conversely, when the immune system is weakened by pregnancy, there is a compensatory increase in disgust sensitivity [13].…”