Eat, Look, Love

The old phrase that claims the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach may just apply to the fairer sex, too.

In a small pilot study that ran recently in the journal Appetite, researchers found that college-age women who had dieted in the past responded better to romantic cues after having eaten.

Researchers found that college-age women who had dieted in the past responded better to romantic cues after having eaten.

The discovery came about a bit by accident. As part of a larger project, the study’s authors had been doing research to see if the two groups of women, habitual dieters and women who ate normally, had differing responses to tempting photos of “highly palatable” food, including french fries and ice cream sundaes, said Alice Ely, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of California San Diego Eating Disorders Center.

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In contrast with those images, the 20 women also were shown photos of romantic scenes, such as a wedding and couples walking hand-in-hand along a beach and cuddling. Using an MRI, Ely and her colleagues found that the women who were fed before the test showed a much more dramatic response to the romantic photos than the women who fasted. The MRIs showed more activity in the reward center of the brain for the women who were full.

“It may just be that satisfying the nutritional needs can then allow the evolutionary needs to take over,” Ely said. “The nutritional needs are at the forefront for survival, but evolutionary needs are lower on the hierarchy.”

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Ely pointed out another interesting finding from the study. The habitual dieter-group showed more responsiveness in the areas of the brain known for visual processing and perceived attractiveness after having eaten, while the women who fasted did not respond as much.

“With this group in particular, you might see sort of a ‘food-goggles’ effect, in that they might be finding people a little more attractive” after eating, she said.

Senior study author Michael Lowe, a psychology professor at Drexel University, said follow-up research might include digging deeper into why the degree of hunger affected romantic attraction, and looking at the effects of hunger on men’s response to romantic cues.

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In the meantime, there’s still plenty of anecdotal evidence that suggests a lovely meal with a love interest can be a precursor to lasting romance. Just ask Maryland-based freelance writer Elizabeth Weiss, whose first date with her now-husband included a decadent dessert at The Melting Pot. That was 15 years ago. They’ve been married now for a decade.

“I didn’t know about fondue restaurants. He takes me to this place that’s warm and cozy and romantic, and you sit down and realize you’re going to eat a whole pot of chocolate,” Weiss said. “The whole night just really worked out, and we’ve been going there ever since.”

In other words: “It was love at first bite.”