6 ms·

That's cause they taste so darn good you want to eat more of them.

hombre_fatal 7y ago
> Study participants were allowed to eat as much or as little as they wanted, but ended up eating way more of the ultra-processed meals, even though they didn't rate them as being tastier than the unprocessed meals.
- goda90 7y ago
  Tastier is pretty subjective, and they weren't comparing them side by side. But something can probably be said about shifting tastes as you eat a certain kind of food repeatedly. I know if I'm eating healthy for awhile, then have a super rich dessert, it overwhelms me, as if my taste buds have adapted towards the healthy food.
  - hombre_fatal 7y ago
    Sure, but the article also explains things like how the appetite-suppressing hormone was found in much higher levels in the group consuming unprocessed foods. So I think I'd focus on facts like that before circling back to "well, it was probably tastier, they just didn't know it."
jniedrauer 7y ago
Similarly to how addictive products like cigarettes cause considerable harm to society, food with additives to make it "taste so darn good" can cause great harm. As a simple example, potato chips are carefully engineered to cause overconsumption. Why is that not seen for what it is? Causing direct harm to consumers through the use of addictive products.
- jodrellblank 7y ago
  Could you say that comfortable chairs are causing direct harm to consumers by encouraging a sedentary lifestyle, and the more comfortable the chair is engineered to be, the worse this effect is? Potato chips which aren't nice, won't be good potato chips. Potato chips which are as nice as they can be will be indistinguishable from engineered to be moreish potato chips. Would America's love affair with cars be different if the government mandates that no car can cost more than $15,000 or be sold at a loss so they must all be small and basic, may not exceed 35mph, must be unheated, uncushioned and have no audio systems, but that public transport must be spacious, clean, well maintained, fast, on-time, subsidised, not overcrowded, etc.?
xutopia 7y ago
I don't think that's correct. For example if you go to a fast food joint you have high salt food that makes you thirsty and high sugar drinks to help it all go down. It's balanced in such a way to make you crave the other as you're seeking balance. Sodium benzoate in the soft drink will dry up your throat seconds after you swallow and make you want to drink even more to satisfy an unquenchable thirst. Go instead to a quality French restaurant and the salt will be toned down in the dishes you eat. The wine will have low sugar (2g per liter) but the taste of the food will be amazing compared to what you get in a fast food joint. Because it will be nicely balanced you won't get thirsty and overdrink or try to balance the sweetness of what you drink with salty taste to contrast it.

> Study participants were allowed to eat as much or as little as they wanted, but ended up eating way more of the ultra-processed meals, even though they didn't rate them as being tastier than the unprocessed meals.

goda90 7y ago
Tastier is pretty subjective, and they weren't comparing them side by side. But something can probably be said about shifting tastes as you eat a certain kind of food repeatedly. I know if I'm eating healthy for awhile, then have a super rich dessert, it overwhelms me, as if my taste buds have adapted towards the healthy food.
- hombre_fatal 7y ago
  Sure, but the article also explains things like how the appetite-suppressing hormone was found in much higher levels in the group consuming unprocessed foods. So I think I'd focus on facts like that before circling back to "well, it was probably tastier, they just didn't know it."

jniedrauer 7y ago

Similarly to how addictive products like cigarettes cause considerable harm to society, food with additives to make it "taste so darn good" can cause great harm. As a simple example, potato chips are carefully engineered to cause overconsumption. Why is that not seen for what it is? Causing direct harm to consumers through the use of addictive products.

jodrellblank 7y ago
Could you say that comfortable chairs are causing direct harm to consumers by encouraging a sedentary lifestyle, and the more comfortable the chair is engineered to be, the worse this effect is? Potato chips which aren't nice, won't be good potato chips. Potato chips which are as nice as they can be will be indistinguishable from engineered to be moreish potato chips. Would America's love affair with cars be different if the government mandates that no car can cost more than $15,000 or be sold at a loss so they must all be small and basic, may not exceed 35mph, must be unheated, uncushioned and have no audio systems, but that public transport must be spacious, clean, well maintained, fast, on-time, subsidised, not overcrowded, etc.?

xutopia 7y ago

I don't think that's correct. For example if you go to a fast food joint you have high salt food that makes you thirsty and high sugar drinks to help it all go down. It's balanced in such a way to make you crave the other as you're seeking balance. Sodium benzoate in the soft drink will dry up your throat seconds after you swallow and make you want to drink even more to satisfy an unquenchable thirst. Go instead to a quality French restaurant and the salt will be toned down in the dishes you eat. The wine will have low sugar (2g per liter) but the taste of the food will be amazing compared to what you get in a fast food joint. Because it will be nicely balanced you won't get thirsty and overdrink or try to balance the sweetness of what you drink with salty taste to contrast it.