Perceiving the Flavor of Fat :: Obesity Health Essays

Perceiving the Flavor of FatWhen we crave our favorite fares 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 fat. Its delicious, its filling, and it just makes everything taste better. It can also make you considerably overweight, not to mention the heart disease and different complications that can result if dietary fat is not consumed in moderation. The appealing taste of fat may very well attribute for the fact that angiotensin converting enzyme in three Americans is overweight (FDA Approves,1996). Is on that point anything that can be done about this terrible problem that affects us all? Many researchers say there is. You can either 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 existing stuff ever genuinely passing your lips. However, before discussing these options, lets talk a little m ore about fat itself and some of the things its responsible for.With the large component part of Americans that are 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 preference (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 bowl of bran flakes just doesnt get hold of the same calming, pleasurable effects as a big bowl of Blue Bell ice cream. Of course, large individual differences must be acknowledged. almost people may actually prefer the taste of bland foods. In fact, one study done on anorexic individuals found that these people actually disliked the taste of foods rich in fat (Simon, Bellisle, Monneuse, Samuel-Lajeunesse, et. al. 1993).Muc h of what we now know about fat and its effects comes from studies done on mice and rats. For example, Rockwood (1990) found that big rats and developing rats prefer a diet with a relatively high level of fat. In addition to showing that animals as well as populace prefer the taste of fat, there also appears to be a link between 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 male mice and rats.