Demystifying science | The cure for anxiety

Every week, our journalist answers scientific questions from readers.

In the last year, several media outlets have reported that a video on TikTok recommending sour candies against panic attacks generated more than two million views while on Google, searches on this approach generate tens of millions of results.

A study carried out with 200 participants confirmed – in 2018 – that sour tastes increase the propensity to take risks, presumably because they calm anxiety.

The study by Chi Thanh Vi, a psychologist affiliated with the University of Sussex, assessed risk-taking through different activities, including pumping party balloons. The guinea pigs who ate sour – or sour – candies pumped the ball 40 times compared to an average of less than 30 for participants who ate sweet, salty, bitter or umami candies.

“Risk-taking is a victory over anxiety. The more risks we take, the less anxiety we have, and the less likely we are normally to have a panic attack. So it seems that eating a sour candy could help calm a panic attack,” Mr. Vi said in an interview from the University of Saigon, where he is participating in a research project on stimuli that affect performance in games. video.

“Unlike the other four tastes, sour is a sensation that disappears very quickly,” explains Chi Thanh Vi, who published the study in 2018 in the journal Scientific Reports.

The areas activated are the same as those that are activated when one is intrigued by something new. It’s a bit like changing the minds of a child who is crying or in pain.

The next step in research into anxiety and anxiety is to see if the response is similar in different populations. Mr. Vi did not observe any differences between men and women in his study.

Are there cultures whose cuisine has more sour tastes? “I didn’t find anything obvious,” Mr. Vi said. But there also appears to be a link between risk-taking and spicy food consumption. So, it would be interesting to see if spicy foods activate the sour receptors in the taste buds more. »