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Flavorful Foods Aid in Weight Loss
October 15, 2008
Limiting what you eat isn’t the only way to lose weight. If taking off pounds is one of your goals, eating more flavorful food may be just as effective–or more–than counting calories. These findings were reported by Dr. Allen Hirsch, M.D., of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation. In a recent study, Dr. Hirsch and his colleagues had 2,436 obese adults sprinkle a variety of calorie-free “tastant” crystals on their daily meals. A control group of 100 volunteers used non-flavored, placebo crystals. Dr. Hirsch instructed participants to follow their normal eating habits during the study.
Only about 60% of the obese participants completed the study, but those who did experienced an average weight loss of a little over 30 pounds or 15% of body weight. In contrast, the control group lost an average of 2 pounds per individual.
This highlights the importance of training cooks to prepare food that is both healthy and flavorful to begin with. When food is healthfully and tastefully prepared, we don’t need to add crystals. And we should expect similar results to those achieved by Dr. Hirsch, if we train those eating to take time to enjoy the flavors, textures, aroma, and taste of the food they eat.(1)
(1) University of Mississippi Health Care, http://www.umhc.com/ “Can Enhancing Food Flavors Promote Weight Loss?”
Topics: Health News