A team of researchers found that training the taste buds to be more sensitive to fat could be a way to curb the growing problem of obesity.
Sensory scientists and researchers from Deakin University in Australia found that it is possible to increase the ability of obese individuals to taste fat by altering their diet. This new study was based on a previous research by the University's Center for Advances Sensory Science which has shown that the human tongue has a part specifically designed to taste fat.
The tongue has a wide range of receptors for sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami tastes. Researchers discovered that people who cannot taste fat in food are more likely to eat more and sometimes, they overeat without realizing that they ate too much already.
It is believed that obese people may be less sensitive to the taste of fat and this is speculated to be caused by excessive dietary fat intake.
"It is becoming clear that our ability to taste fat is a factor in the development of obesity," said Professor Russell Keast.
"The results of this recent study, along with previous work, point to increasing fat taste sensitivity in those who are insensitive as a target for obesity treatment and prevention'," he added.
In the study published online in the journal Obesity, the researchers recruited 53 obese or overweight individuals and randomly assigned a low-fat diet or a portion-controlled diet for a period of six weeks.
The low-fat diet had less than 25 percent of total kilojoules coming from fat and the other diet had 33 percent of kilojoules from fat and was designed to reduce energy intake by 25 percent. One calorie is equivalent to about four kilojoules.
Since the scientists wanted to determine the effect of the diet on their fat taste threshold, levels for fat perception and food preference were measured at the start and end of the study.
Findings show that the fat taste thresholds were reduced for participants on both diets. The effect was stronger in those individuals on the low-fat diet. Fat perception of different fat concentrations in food increased only for those who were on the low-fat diet. In terms of weight loss, the participants on both diets lost similar amounts of weight with 2.9 percent on the low-fat diet group and 2.7 percent for the portion control group.
"This could then lead to people being less inclined to fatty foods, which in turn could impact on not only reducing weight in people already overweight or obese, but also in preventing weight gain in the first instance," Dr. Lisa Newman, lead author of the study said.
Photo: Eric Molina | Flickr
