I pretty much like the taste of fats and oils, although sugar still has
an appeal - and chocolate.
Counter to the results cited in this report, I lost my weight eating
MORE FAT.
This paper seems to be trying to verify or utilize the hypothesis that
it is the high calorie content of fat responsible for obesity. Oh,
researchers locked into the thinking of the 1950's over 50 years later.
The fast food industry has long known and used the taste appeal of fats
and sugars, and particularly the combination of fats and sugars
together. Like Ice Cream. This is one of the themes of "the End of
Overeating" by David Kessler, MD former Commissioner of the US FDA.
I suppose these "scientific researchers" don't read popular books at
all, and probably nothing much which disputes cherished traditions
against fat.
They claim to have verified that there is a separate taste for "fat". Us
common folks have known that fat tastes pretty good for a long time, but
didn't know that it was a separate taste.
I suppose that they didn't include any low carbohydrate WOE folks in
teir "fat eaters" -- just as they probably didn't correlate with total
calories consumed either or the other macronutrients.
Sigh!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100310164011.htm
Science News
Discovery of 'Fat' Taste Could Hold the Key to Reducing Obesity
ScienceDaily (Mar. 10, 2010) — A newly discovered ability for people to
taste fat could hold the key to reducing obesity, Deakin University
health researchers believe.
Deakin researchers Dr Russell Keast and PhD student Jessica Stewart,
working with colleagues at the University of Adelaide, CSIRO, and Massey
University (New Zealand), have found that humans can detect a sixth
taste -- fat. They also found that people with a high sensitivity to the
taste of fat tended to eat less fatty foods and were less likely to be
overweight. The results of their research are published in the latest
issue of the British Journal of Nutrition.
"Our findings build on previous research in the United States that used
animal models to discover fat taste," Dr Keast said.
"We know that the human tongue can detect five tastes -- sweet, salt,
sour, bitter and umami (a taste for identifying protein rich foods).
Through our study we can conclude that humans have a sixth taste -- fat."
The research team developed a screening procedure to test the ability of
people to taste a range of fatty acids commonly found in foods.
They found that people have a taste threshold for fat and that these
thresholds vary from person to person; some people have a high
sensitivity to the taste while others do not.
"Interestingly, we also found that those with a high sensitivity to the
taste of fat consumed less fatty foods and had lower BMIs than those
with lower sensitivity," Dr Keast said.
"With fats being easily accessible and commonly consumed in diets today,
this suggests that our taste system may become desensitised to the taste
of fat over time, leaving some people more susceptible to overeating
fatty foods.
"We are now interested in understanding why some people are sensitive
and others are not, which we believe will lead to ways of helping people
lower their fat intakes and aide development of new low fat foods and
diets."