People with a reduced ability to taste food choose sweeter and likely higher calorie fare, thereby paving the way for gaining unhealthy weight, says a study.
Assistant Professor at Cornell University:
- Robin Dando, Assistant Professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
- Said,we found that the more people lost sensitivity to sweetness, the more sugar they wanted in their foods.
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- In this research published online by the journal Appetite.
- Dando temporarily dulled the taste buds of study participants and had them sample foods of varying sugar concentrations.
- For the blind tests, the researchers provided participants with an herbal tea with low, medium or high concentrations of a naturally occurring herb.
- Herb,Gymnema Sylvestre, which is known to temporarily block sweet receptors.
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- During the testing, participants added their favoured levels of sweetness to bland concoctions.
- The researchers found that those participants with their taste receptors blocked began to prefer higher concentrations of sugar.
- Dando explained,Others have suggested that the overweight may have a reduction in their perceived intensity of taste.
- So, if an overweight or obese person has a diminished sense of taste.
- Our research shows that they may begin to seek out more intense stimuli to attain a satisfactory level of reward.
- This can influence their eating habits to compensate for a lower taste response, he said.
- The gustatory system that is, the taste system we have may serve as an important nexus in understanding the development of obesity.
- With this in mind, taste dysfunction should considered as a factor,Dando said.
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