Commonsense seems to convey that the tastier a food the more you consume it and consequently the more weight you gain. But an interesting study conducted by Alan Hirsh, MD, founder and neurological director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, seems to have turned this concept topsy- turvy.

He found that when the health food garnished with calorie-free sweeteners and seasonings were given to obese people, they lost weight in significant amounts than those who were given the food without the taste enhancers.

The experiment was conducted on 2436 overweight people. Some were given sweet or neutral tasting food with a topping of sugar-free crystals in flavors of cocoa, spearmint, banana, strawberry, raspberry and malt. The others were given salty food topped with salt-free savory tastants in cheddar cheese, onion, horseradish, ranch dressing, taco or parmesan. A third group of volunteers comprising of the control group were given the same food without the tastants. All three groups were allowed to diet and exercise if they were already under the habit of doing so without any restrictions for a period of 6 months.

At the beginning of the experiment it was found that the members of the experimental group on an average weighed 208 pounds and had a BMI of 34. At the end of the experiment they were found to weigh 30.5 pounds less on an average compared to those in the control group who weighed only 2 pounds less on an average. The BMI decrease for the obese group fell by 5 promoting them from the obese category to the overweight category, while there was only a 0.3 drop in BMI on an average for the members of the control group.

Hirsch concluded that the tastants sprinkled on the diet of the obese people made them feel fuller leading them to consume less amount of the food. The amount of food consumed by the experimental group was not observed. He also opined that since no restrictions were imposed the diet would work.

Going in line with the conclusions of the experiment, adding taste to bland health food increases the chances of the obese people surviving on only those diets without looking for other stuff hence helping them in strictly sticking to low calorie diet and hence, loosing weight. But is this study true with only flavoring agents, the composition of which has not been revealed or is it going to work with some natural tastemakers like spices?Moreover, the number of members of the control group seems to be far less than those in the experimental group.

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via: dietblog