Recently I read an article in my favorite newsletter, Nutrition Action, about a scientist trying to figure out the whys and how of eating. What it boils down to (in my very un-scientific lingo) is that our bodies have very specific chemical reactions to the foods we eat. No big surprise there. Anyone who took ninth grade biology probably remembers that. But the article made two really interesting points.

1) Snacking releases dopamine, which increases our ability to concentrate. Huh. So when I’m on deadline and I can’t stop eating junk food, there’s a reason for that? FYI, my deadline snack food of choice is Ghirardelli 72% Cacao baking chips. They’re rich dark chocolate, smaller than a Hershey’s Kiss and somehow infinitely more satisfying.

2) The foods that we are most like to crave are those that combine sugar, fat and salt. Those ‘cravable” foods are the ones we fantasize about when we’re not even hungry, even when we’re eating something else. Boy, that sounds familiar to me. I have an obsession with chocolate chip cookie dough. I keep it in the freezer and eat them straight from the freezer. My other big cravable food is something my sister makes over the holidays called White Trash. It’s like Chex Mix on steroids. (Nuts, pretzels, Chex cereal, and mini marshmallows coated in white chocolate mixed with peanut butter. It’s completely yummy and … well, cravable.

Is there a point to all of this? Not really. It’s just interesting to me. I prefer to know why I do the things I do and understanding that maybe gives me more control over it. In my family, we jokingly call my sister’s White Trash heroin. Turns out, we’re not far from wrong. It truly is an addictive substance.

Here’s the funny thing. I feel the same way about romance novels. I think that those of us who are Romance readers have a biologically reaction to reading a romance. Those authors we love are the ones who deliver the most satisfying hit. And when a bunch of readers get together and talk about books …  well, haven’t you ever noticed what we’re like when we get together? We get all excited and over-stimulated. It’s a little like a bunch of addicts getting high together.

Do you agree? Which foods do you crave? Which writers do you crave?

If you respond I’ll put your name in for a drawing for an advanced copy of my September book, In the Tycoon’s Debt.