Ananova:

Britons have become physically addicted to curries - the result of an increased love affair with Indian food over the last 50 years which has permanently changed our palates.

The finding comes from research carried out by Professor Stephen Gray, a senior research fellow at Nottingham Trent University, who was commissioned to investigate the pull of the curry by food manufacturer Sharwood's.

He found that the mere thought of a chicken tikka masala or lamb korma could set hearts racing and blood pressure soaring.

A rise in heart and blood pressure are associated with arousal and natural highs - and the fact that people get excited at the mere anticipation of a curry indicates that the combination of ingredients may be addictive.

Prof Gray monitored the reactions of more than 100 people to different foods and curries.

The thought of traditional British food, such as steak and kidney pie, increased people's blood pressure by an average of 1.8 points, while the anticipation of a tikka masala raised their blood pressure by 4.9 points.

According to Prof Gray, the combination of tastes in a curry activates more parts of the tongue than blander British food.

He said: "By activating several areas of the tongue simultaneously, we are literally dazzling our taste buds to a state of confusion.

"Traditional British foods fail to do this, due to the basic flavour combinations. When we crave a curry it seems our taste buds are literally crying out for stimulation."