Yael: You know how they say you should never go grocery shopping when you're hungry?

Don: Everything looks (delicious).

Y: Yes, well, doesn't it seem to you that food is indeed more delicious when you're hungry? I don't normally (care for) potato chips, but if I'm starving, they taste exquisite.

D: That might have something to do with how hunger heightens your (sensitivity) for saltiness and sweetness.

Y: It does?

D: It seems so. Neuroscientists tested people's abilities to taste salty, sweet, and bitter solutions both after a fast and after eating a meal. The (participants) ate a prescribed meal for dinner, and then they were tested the next day after not having any breakfast. They were tested a second time after eating lunch. The results showed that people can (detect) lower concentrations of saltiness and sweetness when they're hungry than when they're satiated. However, our ability to detect bitterness remains constant.

Y: Do scientists know why that is?

D: Well, sweetness and saltiness signal that a food is edible, and so it seems to (make sense) that when our bodies need energy, we would be more sensitive to these tastes. Bitterness, on the other hand, can signal that a food is unsuitable, possibly toxic. Hence, it may be to our (benefit) to be highly sensitive to bitterness whether we're hungry or not.

Y: Interesting. It seems curious though that hunger makes us (extra) sensitive to foods that are fattening.

D: Some scientists think that when food was more scarce it made sense to be attracted to fatty foods, so as to store fat reserves. That we're still (attracted to) these foods may go to show that our genes have yet to (adapt to) the changes in our environment.

1. grocery n. 杂货店

2. exquisite adj. 美妙的，精致的

3. edible adj. 可吃的

相关阅读：

零基础英语培训

日常英语口语培训

英语口语进阶培训