Why do fattening foods taste good

Despite a previous belief to the contrary, fat does have flavor after all. Prevailing theory allows for five food tastes: the venerable sweet, salty, sour, bitter and the more recently discovered umami, which is evoked by monosodium glutamate MSG.

Fat, according to this view, only provides texture to food. But animal studies have suggested that there are chemical signals at work for detecting fat via taste or smell. So Richard Mattes and graduate students in his laboratory at Purdue University recruited 19 adults willing to eat cream cheese in the name of science. After fasting overnight and having their blood fat levels tested, the subjects ate up. Some people both tasted and smelled the fatty cheese, others just tasted it and some only smelled it while the control group received no sensory stimulation at all.

The scientists found that the blood fat levels of subjects who both tasted and smelled the food rose three times more than those of the control group. The fat levels of the subjects who tasted while wearing nose plugs rose a similar amount. It also found that these receptors can be influenced, with fattier diets tending to make you less sensitive to the flavor.

This also may be linked to genetics. Fat has been found to have an outsized effect on pleasure signals, especially when combined with carbs. Fatty or highly processed foods have even been found to interact with the brain similarly to the way drugs do in the minds of addicts. In fact, one study found that rats would go after the fatty, unhealthy foods , even while receiving punitive shocks.

This biological love of fat is hardwired into our brains for a very good reason. Foods taste good because they have the nutrients our bodies need to survive — fat included.

In order to keep such an energy expenditure running at a high rate, ancient humans needed a lot of calories. There is now a belief that eating fat may have been what initially set us apart from other animals and made us distinctly human. Of all the animals in the world, humans have the most developed brains overall.

For comparison, this is about 16 times as much as the entire skeletal system uses. So, in order to keep such an energy expenditure running at a high rate thus keeping our brains developing , ancient humans needed a lot of calories.

By developing a hunger for fat, humans were able to encourage eating fat regularly until we got to where we are today. Unfortunately, fat does still remain unhealthy for you in large amounts.

But, once you know why it tastes good to us, especially with cooking, you can be clever with how you use it. Utilize it strategically in your dishes to maximize the impact so you can still enjoy your fat without gaining the fat around your midsection. And remember, that craving for fried food or creamy ice cream is the product of generations of humans who needed those cravings to survive.

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About Molly Apel. Molly Apel writes about health and business-tech trends from an island near Seattle, WA. She is a cancer survivor, aspiring health nut, free-range mother and an organic farmer. She is usually outside, in the rain, exploring the outdoors.

These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Information provided by this website or this company is not a substitute for individual medical advice. But what makes them taste so good? Studies show our taste buds have receptors for fat, but it may be our conditioning and what fat does to our gut that gives us the cravings.

To understand what makes fat taste so good, read on for the science behind what it does to your body and mind. Stay Bulletproof: Subscribe Today.

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