Wonder why
your numbers on the scale keep climbing? It might be due to a surprising
source: As you gain weight, your perception of certain tastes tend to diminish,
a new study in the Journal
of Nutrition found. And that may prompt you to eat more junk.
In the study, researchers recruited 93 college
students, and tested their taste perception three times over the course of the
school year. They recorded their weight each time, too.
The researchers discovered that the guys gained an average of about four
pounds over that eight-month period, equating to about a 2.6 percent increase
in weight. And for those who did put on the pounds, the more weight they
gained, the less intensely they were able to determine salty and sweet tastes.
That means they judged salty foods as less salty than before, and sweet foods
as less sweet than before.
In fact, for every one percent increase in body weight, the men’s
perception of sweetness dropped by 11 percent, and salty tastes declined by
eight percent. Weight gain didn’t significantly change how they tasted other
flavors, like umami, sour, or bitter.
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