Hungry For Love

A new study has revealed that when it comes to love, the way to the heart really is through the stomach.

Research into the nature of attraction and its links to food and cooking found the ability to cook is now seen as just as attractive as a good body, results showed.

In fact, as many as one in five Americans say cooking ability is their biggest turn on -- equaling the number who said a good body was the thing to get them going.

Researchers who explored the laws of attraction with 1007 Americans found the most likely source of attraction is, surprisingly, a good education -- 46 percent felt this was the most crucial.

The research into the relationship between food, cooking ability and attraction was commissioned by Hello Fresh.

But while brains triumph beauty, the power of food was clear -- three in ten Americans say cooking an enjoyable meal can be more satisfying than sex.

And a cheeky one in four confess they use their cooking skill to try and seduce potential partners.

Perhaps it's no surprise that men are nearly twice as likely as women to try to impress with their skills -- 30 percent of men have used cooking in an attempt to seduce someone compared to 18 percent of ladies.

The passion for food can be consuming and sees Americans get back to nature -- as many as 15 percent of those polled had cooked totally nude before -- with men slightly more likely than women to whip something up in the buff.

"These results confirm what many adults already knew ... that cooking is sexy," said Seth Goldman, CEO, HelloFresh U.S. "And what better way to prove that than by preparing a delicious, wholesome home-cooked meal -- for or with your significant other."

The study also found American passion for cooking is far from wavering -- two thirds believe cooking is an art form.

Just a third (35 percent) consider cooking to be a chore.

Long lines at the grocery store are the biggest thing to make cooking seem a chore, with women more likely than men to get stressed out if unable to get the ingredients they want.