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  • Why Do You Get So Hungry at the Beach?

    Why Do You Get So Hungry at the Beach?

    Whether it’s fine sand or pebbles, the beach easily rhymes with cravings. And it’s hard to resist: picnics, as well as the snacks that often follow, are both comforting meals and pleasant activities. But why does hunger become more striking, urgent, and systematic on the beach than elsewhere? Nutrition experts explain that besides the primary need to eat that inevitably triggers, a day at the sea activates several biological and psychological mechanisms.

    “I think we underestimate the effort we make when going to the beach,” first indicates Lisa Moskovitz, dietitian and president of NY Nutrition Group, interviewed by the Washington Post. “Planning everything, carrying chairs, walking on sand… Sometimes, you already have two hours of physical activity in your legs when you finally sit down on your towel.” This is the main biological explanation: even when you go there to relax, just getting to the beach opens up the appetite.

    It doesn’t get better once you’re there. Beach tennis, swimming, volleyball, building sandcastles, or even shell fishing are all sports activities that further increase appetite, adds Avery Zenker, a dietitian in Ontario (Canada). An effect accentuated by dehydration, common on the sand. Our two specialists note that we tend to take thirst as a signal of hunger, and go for the sandwich rather than the water bottle. Some even achieve the trifecta by drinking a beer. Not only does it dehydrate, but “alcohol stimulates appetite in many people,” says Lisa Moskovitz.

    In case of good weather, men actually have one more reason to be hungry at the beach. The level of ghrelin, the appetite hormone, increases in their body after twenty-five minutes of sun exposure, according to a study conducted by researchers at Tel Aviv University (Israel) –– women are not affected. While the exact causes remain unclear, Alix Le Calvez, a psycho-nutritionist dietitian in Bordeaux (Gironde) quoted by Ouest-France, considers “that ghrelin may be involved in protecting the body from sun exposure-related damage,” as it “helps prevent cardiovascular diseases by reducing blood pressure, inflammation, and cardiac muscle wasting.”

    A Cocktail of Relaxation, Boredom, and Nostalgia

    Beach cravings also have psychological causes. Lisa Moskovitz links it simply to pleasure: eating, just like the beach, is one.


    A hedonistic association of the two allows many of us to really enjoy the moment. “We tell ourselves: ‘Wow, I’m having a good day, the weather is nice. What could make this moment even better?

    Food    .’” And if it’s not a voluntary approach, a real domino effect can be triggered. According to Avery Zenker, seeing other people eat, in addition to the feeling of relaxation and a certain boredom of finally having nothing to do, often pushes us to grab a bite.

    However, this food brings more comfort than nutrients. This is where the psychological meets the biological. Eating only processed snacks, rich in added sugars, is pleasurable but doesn’t satisfy hunger, unlike a real picnic consisting of vegetables, hummus, and a sandwich.


    “In fact, it’s because your body is asking for more [nutritious foods] or because what you’re eating creates a glycemic reaction,” analyzes Lisa Moskovitz.

    On the beach, hunger can finally be a matter of associations.

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    Sarah Herrington, a nutritionist in Phoenix (USA), says that just as we crave capon at Christmas, “we associate certain places with certain foods.” It can therefore be difficult to change behavior if we’ve developed the habit of eating at the beach.

    Hunger will trigger to remind us, like for a lab mouse expecting to see the reward fall by repeating certain behavior.

    “For many people, the beach plays on nostalgia,” confirms Lisa Moskovitz. “We associate it with childhood, the time when we went to play and parents brought all kinds of treats. Just that makes us think about food and insinuates hunger into our belly.”

  • Why Can You Hear the Ocean in a Seashell?

    Why Can You Hear the Ocean in a Seashell?

    Large, coiled shells of sea snails are a common memento brought back from beach vacations because they bring to mind the sun, the sea, and the sand. These shells can be found in both freshwater and saltwater environments. However, the shells of these marine animals do more than just bring the aesthetic beauty of the ocean into our homes through their acoustic properties. Even when you are located thousands of miles away from the closest body of water, if you hold the shell’s enlarged aperture up to your ears, you may be able to hear a soft murmur that is reminiscent of the ocean. But what exactly is it that’s causing all of this oddity?

    According to seasoned beachcombers, the best noise-makers are not mussel shells but rather the enormous shells of sea snails. This is because sea snail shells are hollow inside. This is due to the fact that its cavity, in contrast to those of other shells, is sufficiently large enough to produce this noise effect. On the other hand, if we put our ear to the bottom of a cup or glass that is empty, we might hear the same thing again. But how could something like a cup or a seashell sound like this?

    Is it the beat of your heart, or the sound of the wind coming in?

    A good number of people believe that the noise they were hearing was actually their own blood pulsing through their veins. It was said that the shell made the faint pulsing that normally occurs in the veins of our skull significantly more audible. This is not the case at all, as demonstrated by the fact that a microphone, when placed in close proximity to the opening of a seashell that is resting on a table, will pick up the same sound as when the microphone is placed elsewhere in the room. Despite the fact that none of our blood vessels are located near the ear, which is the typical spot for a seashell.

    If it wasn’t the blood, then what could it be? Is it possible that the noise is caused by air moving around inside the shell, similar to the way that the wind makes a sound in the trees? An experiment can be used to disprove this hypothesis as well. Just placing the seashell or jar on your ear in a soundproof room results in the listener hearing… nothing. However, if the noise was caused by air movement, you would still be able to hear it since air flows even in a soundproof environment.

    Shell serves as a resonance chamber

    But where does the noise come from? The answer that you are looking for is “our surroundings”. This is because we are constantly subjected to a variety of different kinds of background noise in our daily lives. The seashell can be used as a resonating chamber by placing it near your ear and then holding it there. When sound waves from the outside are reflected again and again by the shell’s walls, the air inside the shell begins to vibrate and resonate. 

    This is causing some frequencies of the background noise to become louder while simultaneously causing others to become quieter. The overall effect of the higher frequencies makes a noise that is reminiscent of waves crashing against the shore.

    However, the volume of the noise made by shells of varying sizes and shapes is quite distinct from one another. This is because the acoustic frequencies at which the air resonates have a relationship that can be positive or negative depending on the size of the cavity inside the seashell. When compared with their smaller counterparts, larger seashells have the effect of magnifying a more specific frequency range. This provides an explanation for why their noise sounds muffled.