This is why we crave ketchup!

Here's why we sometimes crave KETCHUP! Experts have discovered why and how much this sauce affects our EMOTIONS and brain!

Professional chefs have noticed that ketchup is a polarizing sauce.

People put ketchup on spaghetti, rice, eggs, salty waffles, and even slices of cheese! That is why many point out that it is no wonder that over 650 million bottles of branded ketchup are sold in the United States every year.

Many food theorists and researchers have wondered what exactly makes the secret sauce so enchanting. Happiness expert and author of the New York Times bestseller, Gretchen Rubin is one of these researchers in the study "Why is ketchup so magical?"

She pointed out for the "Mind-body green" podcast that this sauce "tickles" our brains.

Why does our brain like the taste of ketchup?

- It turned out that ketchup is one of the rare (foods) that affects all five taste senses- Rubin explains and adds: "It is sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami."

This is what makes ketchup so satisfying. This taste of umami is especially important because it creates water in your mouth and moves your stomach to increase the production of stomach acid, which helps you digest proteins from the food you eat.

Some food theorists even call ketchup "uber-food", as author Elizabeth Rosin, who in her essay "Ketchup and the Collective Unconscious", believes that this sauce is special because it has an unprecedented ability to give something to everyone.

Ketchup is a special sauce, and the brain loves it because it awakens our every taste. Rubin claims that our senses have a powerful ability to influence our happiness.