The following ran across my desk today: “Apple Burgers are the Key to Weight Loss.” You know that I have to follow up with a title like that. I thought I was going to have to start a new series in weight loss: “Hokey Things You Can Buy for Weight Loss: Burger Flavored Apples.” But I was wrong.
Apparently researchers are looking for ways to trick your mind into thinking you are eating fat or salt. Why on earth would they do that, you ask? Well, they already do it for sugar. We crave certain things (like sugar) and science gives us a substitute. (Sweet ‘n Low anyone?)
I never knew this before today but apparently scientists map out the tongue. (I thought this was always a project reserved for 7th grade biology.) They found the receptors for sweetness and produced a product that ‘tricks’ us into thinking that we’re eating something sweet using a product that has a lot less actual sugar in it. However, they haven’t found receptors for salt or fat yet. And apparently, when they do, we may well be eating things like ground apples made to look and taste like beef. Or here’s a thought, vegetable fries that actually taste like French fries but made of vegetables. In theory, substituting like this will decrease calories. But don’t be so quick to start picking up your Splenda yet.
Science indicates that when your body thinks that you’re going to eat something sweet, it prepares your body to receive the carbohydrates and the sugar. The same happens for fat and sugar. Perhaps this would be a good time to point out that although I know lots of people use sugar substitutes, I am not fooled for one minute. Splenda or Sweet ‘n Low, or any other sugar substitute does NOT taste like sugar. I cannot imagine an apple burger would really fix my occasional craving for a big, juicy cheeseburger.
The best way to be able to enjoy natural sugars, the occasional cheeseburger, or any other ‘taboo’ food is occasionally. If you occasionally indulge in sweets, it will not make you fat. If you have the random cheeseburger every once in awhile it will not make you fat. It’s the over consumption of junk food that makes us overweight. We eat too many things that we know we shouldn’t. As for me, personally, I’d rather enjoy an occasional real cheeseburger than trick my taste buds into thinking that it’s eating one when I’m really eating a tofu zucchini burger. . .or something like that.
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