Porn is boring, I know. How many glorious money shots does it take before you’ve seen every kind of penis shape or pubic hair design humanly possible? So if you’re over-sexed and undernourished, the latest blogging craze sweeping Twitter nation is right up your alley. Leave those dirty honeys alone for a day and get into food porn.

The term “food porn” has been doing the rounds since the ’70s, although it’s unclear who coined the phrase. Food Journal Gastronomical credits Michael Jacobson, co-founder of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who described food porn as “food that is so sensationally out of bounds of what a food should be that it deserved to be considered pornographic.”

That’s all well and good. But how do you know if you’re staring hardcore food porn in the face, other than your fingers being sticky with imaginary caramel?

Amanda Simpson, who launched a website called FoodPornDaily in June 2008, goes by an informal “drool litmus test.” If you find yourself on your laptop, salivating like Pavlov’s dog at the gooey, sumptuous slab of chocolate brownies, you’ve probably entered food-porn territory.

Not quite ready to substitute your fascination with labia close-ups for steak? Let @foodporn on Twitter convince you. The great thing about food porn is that it’s sexy and socially acceptable to look at in class. And it’s not just for people that like to cook. Simpson said her site is all about fantasy rather than recipes.

A friend introduced Andrew Bennison, a sophomore philosophy major, to food porn. Now he’s hooked.

“I look at food porn daily, mainly on Twitter,” he said. “My main reason has to be for the visceral pleasure of sweets, rather than for actual dessert-making ideas.”

Boys leading boys astray: Funny how that works. But given that food porn rarely has a recipe attached, surely it’s a harmless habit? Apparently not. For some, that well-lit photo of a grease-glistened grilled cheese really does taste as good as it looks.

Research from the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine in Berlin, Germany, found that brain areas related to reward- and habit-learning were activated more in obese individuals, compared to normal-weight people, when viewing food porn. Separate research published in the April issue of The Journal of Neuroscience found food porn activated reward centers in the brain that make women more likely to overeat. And a study in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found people are more likely to “act” on images of food porn when sleep deprived.

The student population is officially doomed.

After ABC and MSN syndicated a Women’s Health article on food porn last month, Simpson found herself on the Dr. Oz show defending her niche “porn” brand, alongside TV chefs Gail Simmons and Joe Bastianich. She doesn’t mind the health backlash.

She said all publicity is good publicity, and maybe it is. Social media sites like Twitter and Pinterest are flooded with everything from carrots spooning to more soft-boiled eggs than anyone needs to see. Food porn even generates 50 percent more repins than fashion and style photos, according to Women’s Health.

As a true fan, Bennison has a few Instagram photos “favorited” for a rainy day.

“I’m most excited to make the cookie dough Reese’s,” he said. “I’d say a lot of it is just visual pleasure though.”

So is the takeaway message to unfollow @foodporn immediately to save your waistline? Hell to the no.

Live vicariously through social media, devour the spectacle, but try not to make a culinary replication of every deliciously grotesque semblance of saturated fat pinned to your food-porn board.

Said Simpson: “Come on, who doesn’t like to drool?”

Iona Holloway is a senior magazine and psychology dual major. While she’s all for food porn, she draws the line at phallic-shaped cupcakes. Follow her on Twitter @ionaholloway or email her at [email protected].

Published on October 17, 2012 at 1:19 am