I was first introduced to the wonders of all-you-can-eat hotpot last winter when, on a whim, my friends and I decided to try a spot in Philadelphia’s Chinatown for dinner. Before we even finished the first round of our order, I had already fallen in love with the atmosphere. The warm, simmering pot of soup, the laughs of friends and family as they pile towers of vegetables onto their plates, the lingering smell of beef and broth.
When we were done and our stomachs stuffed, I longed to make this a weekly tradition. However, I knew that wouldn’t be a healthy, or financially smart, decision, so I yearned and waited for the day I could finally grace those doors once more…
…And that day finally came over the fall break. My friends and I decided to catch up and relay our semester stories over some hotpot. As it turned out, I wasn’t the only one craving it.
We didn’t make the same mistake as last time — no cute, tight-fitting clothes; only sweatpants and any baggy shirt that we could find. We were planning to eat our 30 dollars worth, and for that, we needed as much stomach space as possible. Tight jeans had no place in that goal.
My friends ordered a lot, impulsively. On our third round, they ordered another heaping of raw meat and salmon sashimi before I could finish chewing and open my mouth to protest. By the fifth, I was half-slumped in my chair, ready to succumb to a food coma at any minute (which, fun fact, is not a well-studied phenomenon despite its frequency). I could only force a few more slices of salmon down my throat before I had to tap out, waiting as my friends finished what was left.
Once done, we paid our check and got ready to leave. But as I stood up, I looked at my friends and asked, “What’s for dessert?”
At the moment, I didn’t even realize how crazy I sounded. Almost six rounds of plates and plates of sliced beef, lamb, and pork belly and I still wanted more. Specifically, something sweet. And I wasn’t alone – my friends also nodded along, already beginning to brainstorm other places where we could satiate this odd, unexpected craving.
As it turns out, there is a name for this experience. Some may call it “dessert stomach,” or the “second stomach for dessert.” While it might seem like our bodies have a separate compartment just for sweets, it is actually due to something called sensory-specific satiety.
First described in 1981, the phenomenon of sensory-specific satiety suggests that the more we eat one type of food, the less appealing and more boring the flavor becomes. As a result, switching to a different food is suddenly more tempting; for instance, if you eat a bunch of salty chips, you may start craving ice cream instead. Scientists suspect that this craving for variety is an evolutionary tactic that helped early humans maintain a balanced diet by encouraging them to seek out different foods and guaranteeing a variety of nutrients.
Another possible explanation for “dessert stomach” is our biological response to sugar. Foods high in sugar, like desserts, trigger the brain’s reward system by releasing feel-good chemicals such as serotonin and endorphins. Early humans developed this response to scavenge for calorie-dense, nutritious foods like berries and figs. Although we no longer live in a time when food is scarce, our brains still react similarly to sugary food and can even override feelings of fullness. Unfortunately, in a world where food is readily available, this reward response can lead to sugar addiction.
Then there are hormones such as ghrelin, which stimulates appetite. Your body’s production of ghrelin typically increases before a meal and decreases after, but if you have a habit of eating dessert after meals, your body might produce more ghrelin, prompting you to feel hungry again even when you’re already full.
Combined, these factors account for what we call the second stomach for dessert. So, next time you find yourself stuffed but still eyeing that dessert menu, just remember: It’s not gluttony — it’s science!
Leave a Reply