May 4, 2006
Medley of Flavors May Trigger Overeating
If your food is bursting with a medley of flavors, can this actually trigger your appetite and cause you to overeat? That’s the belief of Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center.
Katz points to research to back-up his premise. Medical evidence has suggested that eating certain basic foods triggers different appetite centers in the brain. So, if you eat something salty and sweet within the same meal, both appetite centers are stimulated and signal you to continue eating until satiated.
Katz theorizes that the fewer appetite centers we activate, the less we’ll be prompted to eat. The reverse is also true—the more centers we trigger the more food we need to feel satisfied. This may explain why buffets and dining situations, such as Thanksgiving, can lead us to overeat. You fill your plate with a ‘little of this’ and a ‘little of that,’ and next thing you know you’re craving more, although you feel full.
Even if you attempt to limit the flavors you eat at one time, fast food and conventional snacks could be unforeseen pitfalls. Katz points to popular items like salty chips, which may also contain sugar, and sweet cereals, which may contain salt. Our taste buds only detect the prominent flavor, but our brains recognize both. Is this why you can’t stop at just one chip?
The saying goes, “Variety is the spice of life.” In this case, could variety be the downfall of America’s waistline?
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