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They’re what you might call “too good”. Anything that you “just can’t stop eating” would fall into this category. Reward value. Along with palatability, some foods give us a “hit” or a reward from some type of physiological effect. We’ll go out of our way to get foods with a high reward value — in fact, we may learn to like them even if they don’t taste very good. For instance, few people like black coffee or beer the first time they try them. But coffee has caffeine and beer has alcohol. Our brains like caffeine and alcohol.
So we learn quickly that coffee and beer are good things, and we learn to like (or at least tolerate) their taste. Over time we discover we like — maybe even can’t live without — them. We’ll wade through a crowded bar to buy a drink, we’ll stand in an absurdly long line for our afternoon coffee fix, and we’ll pay exorbitant amounts of money for relatively simple products. We’ll also make room for high-reward foods even when we’re full. This is why at Thanksgiving, after moaning and groaning about how full you are, you miraculously make room for pie when it’s time for dessert.
