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from the Who-ever-binged-on-BAD-tasting-food? dept.
Does eating good-tasting food make you gain weight? Despite the common perception that good-tasting food is unhealthy and causes obesity, new research from the Monell Center using a mouse model suggests that desirable taste in and of itself does not lead to weight gain.
"Most people think that good-tasting food causes obesity, but that is not the case. Good taste determines what we choose to eat, but not how much we eat over the long-term," said study senior author Michael Tordoff, PhD, a physiological psychologist at Monell.
Researchers who study obesity have long known that laboratory rodents fed a variety of tasty human foods, such as chocolate chip cookies, potato chips and sweetened condensed milk, avidly overeat the good-tasting foods and become obese.
These studies have provided support for the common belief that tasty food promotes overeating and ensuing weight gain. However, because no study had separated the positive sensory qualities of the appetizing foods from their high sugar and fat content, it was impossible to know if the taste was actually driving the overeating.
The French live by the theory of eating smaller portions of richer, better-tasting food.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 18 2016, @08:50AM
If you burn more calories than you eat, you can't gain weight, blah blah blah burger g manna manna terrafoam marshall brain vertebrane australia project better and better!!Q
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Sunday December 18 2016, @03:36PM
Good to know. I'll therefore always make a very big fire to grill my meat, to ensure I burn enough calories. ;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 18 2016, @08:51AM
I have not in my 40+ years heard anyone ever say that taste makes you fat nor suggest that this makes any sort of common sense.
I have nothing more to say than this.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 18 2016, @09:09AM
All I've heard is that good-tasting foods tend to be unhealthy, not that the good taste itself is what makes it unhealthy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 18 2016, @09:11AM
Fat and salt taste great, more filling. Try the sugar coated protein bars.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Sunday December 18 2016, @09:20AM
Any surprises here?
When one eats out of hunger, one eats only enough to make the pain go away. This is not fun. Its survival. And there are a lot of things we would rather be doing than eating.
When one eats for pleasure... bingo! You are not doing this to survive. Its fun! Eat some more! Eat way way way too much!
Plug yourself up. Enjoy!
( Holding hand up... guilty as charged... just like many more of us who eat a lot of stuff we shouldn't just because the damned thing is so tasty. )
McDonald's - number one on my list.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by BsAtHome on Sunday December 18 2016, @09:42AM
Are you serious? McD's stuff tastes awful. They try to make it tasty, but that is of very short duration (and the taste seems to differs from country to country). If hungry, the first bite seems to work. The second bite is hard and the third bite is, well, lets not get into that. I stopped going there a very very long time ago.
Once your tastebuds are destroyed, then I'd guess you would be able to eat that stuff. However, if you know what the natural taste of food is, then it is simply slime and dirt.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Sunday December 18 2016, @10:05AM
I can't speak for OP, but their breakfast in particular is what entices me. Particularly after a hangover.
Their regular food line is something I could do without ever eating again. I was more okay with their stuff back when they were flirting with actual chicken in their food, like the snack wraps and stuff. I could get a couple of those with grilled chicken and no dressing and that'd tide me over for a meal without feeling disgusting. Anything else on the list was just gross though.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 1) by anubi on Sunday December 18 2016, @10:29AM
I blame the fries in particular. The sodas are quite strong and not chintzy on the syrup. However, the shakes go down like sugary foam, then about five minutes of misery before the thing erupts back up the same chute it came down, along with the acid that failed to break it down.
They used to have the cheap burgers I thought were tasty, but they eventually did away with them.
They had some premium burgers I liked, but no more so than other eateries' burgers.
Never was really enamored with Big Mac's. Preferred the Quarter Pounders and a salad... then put the salad in the burger at the table.
I could not tell any difference between their chicken nuggets or the nuggets I got out of a bag from the dollar store and nuked.... except the price.
The fish sandwiches were pretty good twenty years ago... but the latest incarnations are sure skimpy on the fish. They seem mostly fishy greasebread.
Its those damned fries. McDonald's has that one down pat. Addicting as hell to me. And I know better than eat 'em.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 18 2016, @01:52PM
"Its those damned fries. McDonald's has that one down pat. Addicting as hell to me. And I know better than eat 'em."
Oh man, McD's fries... those things suck ass. I'm lazy as hell, and I'd rather go to the supermarket, buy potatoes, and make 'em myself, than try eating those disgusting things again.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday December 18 2016, @02:09PM
I used to love McDonald's. Never cared for the McFish, but everything else I could eat heaps of. Sometime in the last 15 years they substituted flavored fillers for real ingredients. 3 minutes after eating their food you feel sick.
It can't be a coincidence that Five Guys and BareBurger have successfully rushed in to fill the gap. People like the format still, but want real food for their money.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday December 18 2016, @12:25PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by art guerrilla on Sunday December 18 2016, @03:43PM
exactly, people standing around buffets, dessert bars, etc ALWAYS say 'oh, X is so-o-o-o delicious, i know it must be 'bad' for me...', or, 'why is it that all the foods i like are 'bad' for me ?', etc...
they ALWAYS say that shit...
and then eat that shit...
its all good...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 18 2016, @06:24PM
That was my point, too. I was going to add this implied point...but I could not be bothered.
This phd is a load shite trying to make itself significant.
Honestly hope there is more to the study than this (there probably is, but can't be bothered finding out) or the uni its from is shite too...
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Sunday December 18 2016, @10:01AM
Nah man, it's Indulgence. Indulgence causes the body to react in certain ways. The Christians have well established that with their entirely scientific and accurate findings on pregnancy, particularly after rape. If it's legitimate rape, then a woman's body just shuts that down, but if they enjoy it? Bam, baby! Same thing with food. If you ENJOY food, you become a lard-ass, but if you eat a styrofoam wafer dipped in watered-down milk gravy three times a day, then you're fine.
(Takes a swig of beer and a smoke, and then pauses for a moment to reflect on how much humanity sucks.)
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 18 2016, @10:17AM
Well sure, orgasm increases chance of conception, so if she enjoys it, her body is reacting in a receptive manner.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Sunday December 18 2016, @11:04PM
but if you eat a styrofoam wafer dipped in watered-down milk gravy
I feel like I can almost, but not quite, identify if/what fast food restaurant/snack you're referring to ... Taco bell nachos, maybe?
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Tuesday December 20 2016, @03:26AM
Honestly, I was thinking about my nutty Pentecostal grandparents' (may they forever rot in hell) idea of biscuits and gravy.
Your suggestion is certainly apt to the description however.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 2) by Bogsnoticus on Sunday December 18 2016, @09:41PM
It does sorta make sense however. If all I was able to get to eat was brussell sprouts [nedmartin.org], I'd willingly starve myself to death.
Genius by birth. Evil by choice.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 18 2016, @09:42PM
This is right up there with studies indicating that people that buy organic produce are foolish because such products are more expensive and the produce is not healthier.
No one is buying organic because they think they will get extra health out of it. Less pesticides perhaps, but not because it has a few extra micrograms of vitamin C.
Yet there are studies like that which are used by the various relevant industries to convince people to not change their behaviors to a less profitable one (such as the rejection of factory farming with pesticide usage and such).
You're totally right and I can only think that this 'study' is paid for by Captain Fatty's Sugar Emporium or something like that, just in time to let people feel good about indulging extra food for the holidays.
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 18 2016, @09:59AM
Haha you fatsos. Everybody knows fat makes you fat. You fatsos can't buy anything to eat that tastes good that isn't loaded with sugar with all the satiating fat removed. You'll never have any good tasting food that doesn't take an hour you don't have to prepare.
Enjoy being fat while staving yourself to death you fat freaks. Somebody should shoot you. Remember when your lard ass was abnormal? Guess what, she lost! Get over it! Fatties like you are going to be humiliated so much you shoot yourselves.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 18 2016, @10:49AM
..high fructose corn syrup..get rid of it from your diet,
You will feel less hungry, and you will lose weight.
Same goes for growth hormone treated meat (it makes *you* grow too), and other artificial crap found in so many foods today that your body cannot digest correctly
Ever wonder why people in the 50s weren't fat though they drove to the mall, ate burgers and drank cola like we do now?
Its because the artificial chemicals and hormones didn't exist then..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 18 2016, @01:58PM
In the fifties those were more like special occasion things then every day things. That makes a big difference. As for HFCS, like gluten, it's in most of our processed foods. Cut those foods for whatever reason and you'll probably lose weight.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 18 2016, @10:04PM
This right here.
However also in the 70/80s everyone went through that 'low fat' diet thing. Turns out no fat = crap taste. Guess how they got the flavor back? Sugar, ascorbic acid, and salt. Sugar comes in about a dozen different forms. HFCS is the cheapest one currently to add.
It is amazing the number of things that have large amounts of sugar in it. Take something simple like apple juice. Good for you? Not so much. It is just a natural sugar. Apple/pear/grape juice is one way they put sugar into your diet and call it 'natural'. Well it is. Just happens it is not terribly good for you being mostly sugar. One of the reasons Adkins works so well is not the high fat/protein. Its the absence of sugar. Bread/crackers is only a few key ingredients away from cake.
(Score: 2) by Nollij on Thursday December 22 2016, @01:47AM
Some quick Googling revealed at least 56:
Agave nectar*
Barbados sugar*
Barley malt
Beet sugar*
Blackstrap molasses*
Brown rice syrup*
Brown sugar*
Buttered syrup*
Cane juice crystals*
Cane sugar*
Caramel*
Carob syrup*
Castor sugar*
Confectioner’s sugar*
Corn syrup
Corn syrup solids
Crystalline fructose*
Date sugar*
Demerara sugar*
Dextran
Dextrose
Diastatic malt
Diatase
Ethyl maltol
Evaporated cane juice*
Florida crystals*
Fructose*
Fruit juice*
Fruit juice concentrate*
Galactose
Glucose
Glucose solids
Golden sugar*
Golden syrup*
Grape sugar*
High-fructose corn syrup*
Honey*
Icing sugar*
Invert sugar*
Lactose
Malt syrup
Maltose
Maple syrup*
Molasses*
Muscovado sugar*
Organic raw sugar*
Panocha*
Raw sugar*
Refiner’s syrup*
Rice syrup
Sorghum syrup*
Sucrose*
Sugar*
Treacle*
Turbinado sugar*
Yellow sugar*
The FDA considers sugar to be any one of the following six compounds: glucose, galactose, fructose, maltose (glucose-glucose), lactose (glucose-galactose), and sucrose (glucose-fructose).
source [responsiblefoods.org]
(Score: 4, Funny) by Thexalon on Sunday December 18 2016, @02:32PM
The British, by contrast, live by the theory of somehow managing to swallow barely-edible food, as their civic duty.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 18 2016, @03:48PM
Might have been true once, but when I visit England and eat in a pub the food has always been very good. Maybe my friends are directing me to the good pubs? Have also had a few elegant and very high quality "fancy dinners" with clients in England, very much up there with best restaurant experiences in other countries.
(Score: 3, Informative) by AthanasiusKircher on Sunday December 18 2016, @08:09PM
The summary doesn't make clear what this study ACTUALLY did, nor do the claims made by the researchers exactly follow from their method. Since I actually clicked on the link (I know, I know...), let me briefly say what the study DID show.
-- They fed groups of lab mice three diets: (1) plain food, (2) plain food with added sucralose (zero-calorie sweetener, creating "sweet" taste), (3) plain food with added mineral oil (zero-calorie oil, creates "fatty" taste).
-- The mice preferred to eat (2) or (3) over (1), so they re-ran the experiment with new mice and gave three different groups one of those three types of food. The mice from groups (2) and (3) did not gain more weight than the group which ate (1).
Although it's not explained well, I would guess the theory being tested here is that somehow if food tastes better, it automatically makes us desire to overeat, thereby potentially leading to obesity. The mice show this apparently doesn't happen -- even though mice prefer the "enhanced" flavor of their foods, it doesn't make them consume more calories.
Of course, the problem with all of this is that most "natural" foods that taste sweet or fatty ARE higher in calories. So if we consume a similar amount of food with added sweetener or added fat (which we seem genetically programmed to seek out, from the days when hominids were not guaranteed steady food sources, and any extra calories were good), we probably ARE eating more calories... which could make us fatter.
Thus, I'd say the headline is a bit misleading. Yes, the taste of food itself doesn't necessarily cause overconsumption of calories. But "good flavors" are often correlated with extra calories, so saying "good tasting FOOD does not cause weight gain" isn't right. What the study really says is that "Better TASTE or FLAVOR does not -- in itself -- cause weight gain," though the food may very well cause weight gain.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday December 18 2016, @08:51PM
Seriously, get a crockpot and start making lots of homemade soups and stews in it. The prep work is the ONLY real work that goes into it, and that's mostly just chopping some veggies. Meat can go in frozen. You can even make Indian food (dhal mostly) in it! I've got two jobs and don't cook as often as I should, but when I do this machine is a miracle worker.
Also: it does amazing things to whole grains. I made a kind of savory barley congee with chicken and carrots herbs as an experiment last week and it was so satisfying. There's an entire dimension missing from processed food that home cooking has. Somehow it warms you inside and out.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Sunday December 18 2016, @11:19PM
Somehow it warms you inside and out.
I wonder if it's that once the grain/legume has been cooked in its entirety, a greater breadth of bodies with varying presence/absence of carbohydrate-processing enzymes can break the (now simpler) sugars down more completely and/or faster into CO2/H20, releasing more energy and thereby heat.
I have more theories on this, but maybe we should get an evolutionary nutritionist (?) to comment further [nih.gov].
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Monday December 19 2016, @02:16PM
I recently started using a slow cooker too. I would like to ask you about the frozen meat you mention. All the recommended recipes that came in the booklet ask you to do some bit of pre-cooking to the meat, like frying the minced beef for a chilli con carne.
I recently made an AWESOME bolognese, but I caramelized the onions and browned the beef first.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday December 19 2016, @09:38PM
I can't afford much meat since it's too expensive, but I did find a good deal on pork stew meat, $3.29/lb. That went right into the bottom of the cooker frozen, followed by a layer of slices potatoes (29 cents a pound, what a deal!), and THAT got a layer of slices onion, carrot, and celery. Added to that were 6c water, 1.5c pearl barley, a bay leaf, a bunch of herbs, and 6 cloves of crushed garlic.
I got something a bit like one of those jarred Polish/Russian soups you can buy in eatern-European markets. It was amazingly filling, and did something good to me emotionally.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...