Padma Lakshmi's Tomato Toast ASMR Tweet Comes With An Apology
Nowadays, it's so easy to go down a rabbit hole of YouTube videos that simply have you mesmerized. And with the upswing of photo and video content, it was bound to happen that a sensation like ASMR would breach the scene. ASMR, as Net Imperative notes, stands for autonomous sensory meridian response. It's a sensation akin to a "brain massage," which relaxes the mind of the viewer or listener through calming sights and sounds. As the article notes, "According to Google data, there are 2.3 million global Google searches for ASMR every month."
And since there is no trend that a celebrity won't touch, ASMR has become the latest bandwagon many have joined on. There is even a specific YouTube channel dedicated to famous folk that have tried their hand at the trend, which Masterclass notes has "has provided relief and improved the well-being of millions of viewers and subscribers worldwide." Videos range from whispers into microphones to watching cookies rise in an oven, and many things in between. Even Padma Lakshmi couldn't resist trying it out in her own special way.
Padma's ASMR video brings on the crunch
In one of her latest videos posted to Twitter, Padma Lakshmi sits in her bed (later joined by her daughter) and takes loud bites out of a piece of toast adorned with yellow tomatoes. At one point. her daughter tries to join in, and Lakshmi shoos her away saying, "You are cramping my style." While this video may be more odd than satisfying to viewers, Padma felt the need to apologize to followers who are afflicted with one very specific condition called misophonia.
Nature.com describes misophonia as "a condition in which individuals experience intense anger and disgust when they are confronted with sounds made by other human beings." This can include things like chewing food, breathing, or smacking lips, so Padma's crunch and chew video certainly fits the bill in this case. Though it appears her followers have no problem at all with watching and hearing her munch. As one person said, "@PadmaLakshmi is the only person on the planet who can gracefully & sexily eat tomato toast so I'll just stick with photos of mine."