Perceiving the Flavor of Fat :: Obesity Health Essays

Perceiving the Flavor of FatWhen we crave our electred foods and snacks, those tasty visions in our heads dont usually resemble that of a large, juicy carrot stick or a sumptuous rice cake. We want flesh out. Its delicious, its filling, and it except makes e rattlingthing taste better. It can also make you considerably hard, not to extension the heart disease and other complications that can result if viandsary plenteous is not consumed in moderation. The appealing taste of fat may very well attribute for the fact that one in three Americans is overweight (FDA Approves,1996). Is there anything that can be done about this terrible bother that affects us all? Many researchers say there is. You can every choose to face the facts and simply steer clear of the nasty culprit, or you can fool your taste buds into perceiving the taste of fat without the real contract ever actually passing your lips. However, before discussing these options, lets talk a curt more about fat itself a nd some of the things its responsible for.With the large division of Americans that ar overweight today, its no surprise that so many physicians are continually recommending diet changes to their patients. However, the majority of these doctors say that the largest barrier keeping Americans from changing their diets is food taste cullence (Soltesz, Price, Johnson, & Telljohan, 1994). The patients dont want to switch to a high-fiber low-fat diet because low-fat high-fiber foods dont taste as good as high-fat low-fiber foods. A big peal of bran flakes just doesnt have the same calming, pleasurable effects as a big bowl of Blue Bell ice cream. Of course, large one-on-one differences must be acknowledged. Some people may actually pick out the taste of bland foods. In fact, one study done on anorexic individuals found that these people actually disliked the taste of foods abstruse in fat (Simon, Bellisle, Monneuse, Samuel-Lajeunesse, et. al. 1993).Much of what we now know about f at and its effects comes from studies done on mice and rats. For example, Rockwood (1990) found that adult rats and developing rats prefer a diet with a relatively high level of fat. In addition to showing that animals as well as humans prefer the taste of fat, there also appears to be a link amidst fat consumption and behavior. Hilakivi-Clarke, Cho, and Onsjafe (1996) uncovered some startling evidence suggesting that a high-fat diet may induce aggressive behavior in mannish mice and rats.