FOOD FOR THOUGHT; EXPERT ON GASTRO SECRETS How Our Brain Works When We Eat

Forget astrophysicsand welcome to the science of gastrophysics.

An Oxford University professor has carried out a study on how our brains respond to food.

Charles Spence conducted experiments to gain some amazing insights into our relationship with what we eat.

Describing one in his new book, Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating, Spence said he found people value food more when using heavier knives and forks.

He said: "Imagine the scene: 150 international conference delegates in a swanky hotel restaurant somewhere in the centre of Edinburgh.

"The diners were randomly dispersed across tables. There was a scorecard by each place setting and pencils on the tables so the diners could record their responses. They were asked how much they liked the food, how artistically they thought it had been plated and how much they would have been willing to pay for the dish in a restaurant."

Those eating with heavier cutlery thought their food had been plated more artistically. And crucially, they were willing to pay significantly more for it.

Spence said gastrophysics is about much more than making money out of us.

Here are some of his theories in extracts from the book.

DON'T DINE ALONE A growing body of evidence points towards dining solo having a negative impact on people's physical health and mental well-being.

Professor Spence said: "Analysis of 17 different studies, involving more than 180,000 adolescents and children, revealed that sharing meals as a family reduced the odds of youngsters being overweight by 12 per cent. It also increased the likelihood of their eating healthy foods by almost 25 per cent."

FOOD IS BECOMING THEATRE Restaurant cuisine is moving from its traditional function of providing nutrition towards becoming a medium for artistic expression.

The professor said: "Sublimotion, in Ibiza, offers the world's most expensive restaurant meal.

"Should you be lucky enough to book a seat, you will need to find close to 1500 euros a head. At that price, the 20-course tasting menu can't just be about the food, can it?" SEEING IS BELIEVING According to Spence, our responses to colour in food and drink change.

He said: "A few decades ago, marketers and commentators were telling anyone who'd listen that blue foods would never sell. Now we have Slush Puppy and the London Gin Company promoting blue drinks."

FOOD MEMORIES For many people, our memory of a meal, at least of an enjoyable one, is where much of the pleasure of the experience resides.