Posts Tagged ‘Stimulation of Taste’
Stimulation of Taste Can Promote Weight Loss
People can lose weight by flavoring food with calorie-free seasonings or Crystals “tastant”, which can make them feel full faster and thus reduce their consumption, according to a new study. The results were presented at the 90th Endocrine Society Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
Alan Hirsch, MD, founder and neurologic director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, creator of the substances that can stimulate the sense of taste “tastant.”
Asked a 2436 people who are overweight or obese sprinkle a variety of sweet and savory flavors in their food before eating their meals during the 6-month study period.
The flavors were salted as cheddar cheese, onion, horseradish, ranch dressing, taco, or parmesan cheese and sweet as cocoa, spearmint, banana, strawberry, raspberry, and malt.
Both groups were allowed to make diet and exercise if they were doing and controls consisted of measuring weight and body mass index (BMI) height and weight before and after the study.
This theory generated that subjects lost more weight because the flavors fully stimulated the senses and more effectively, therefore, were induced to eat less.
Another possibility, he said, is that the improvement of crystals (tastants) with a mild flavor, with healthy foods such as tofu and some vegetables, resulted in a change of healthier eating habits. He said he believes that this approach works because, unlike most diets, not based on food restriction.
The reduction was an average of almost 15 percent of their body weight, “The weight reduction would be lower in people who are less obese,” Hirsch said. “The theory of tastants will not work for people who eat even when they are in a state of wholeness and for people who have lost their sense of smell.”
Hirsch said the tastants work so well that have contributed to the dropout rate and the study was stopped before 6 months because they had reached their ideal body weight, an unexpected result, he said.
Despite the tastant crystals not yet commercially available, Hirsch said that people can use these techniques to enhance their senses of smell and taste, and weight loss with something as simple as, “Sniff your food before to eat.