Sweet! It's commonly used to explain something really cool or exciting. This is true on a cellular level, too. The sweet taste often indicates calories, which is exciting to the cells. They can use it for energy to get everything done that needs to get done. Breathing. Heartbeat. Liver and kidney function. My fingers zooming across my keyboard to bring you this information. My brain whirring silently in the background forming thoughts and sentences I think you need to know. Tasting something sweet revs up the body, letting it know fuel is on its way, so get ready for action!
So what exactly happens when we “trick” the mind, giving it something sweet that doesn’t necessarily have all the calories that come with it? Like using a non-caloric sweetener, such as aspartame or stevia, or even changing the way we perceive certain flavors, by eating a miracle berry (http://nutritionalguidance.org/Blog/tabid/1130/Article/116/miracle-berries.aspx). It’s a tricky question with a tricky answer.
Several studies have shown a correlation between artificial sweetener intake (such as diet soda) and weight gain. But it’s important to remember that correlation does not mean causation. Interestingly enough, controlled studies have demonstrated that children are more likely than adults to compensate for calories consumed at the following meal. For example, if a child has a pudding sweetened with sugar (and higher in calories), he will tend to consume less at the next meal, and when he has an artificially sweetened pudding (with fewer calories), he will consume more at the next meal. However, this tendency for children to alter intake in tune with a snack varies greatly with age. Older children and adults do not typically adjust caloric intake when consuming artificially sweetened vs sugar sweetened beverages and snacks. Timing is important, too. Consuming said snacks between meals will reduce intake at the following meal, but if consumed with meals, total calories increases.
Wild, eh?
What’s more – Remember the reward system we talked about last week? As it turns out, there seems to be a partial activation of the reward pathway when consuming non-nutritive (calorie-free) sweeteners. This means that appetite is stimulated, but not totally satisfied, which can lead to an over-consumption of food and calories in an effort to satisfy this hedonic need. Chronic consumption of these sweeteners can lead to further cravings for more sweet things, which can upset flavor balance. Though that might seem ridiculous, remember, we are exploring the components of taste. So if we are going more for sweet things than sour, bitter, salty or savory things, then we could be missing something important associated with all these other great tastes.
To the caveman, sweet meant calories. Sweet as we know it doesn’t mean a whole lot of nutrients – cakes, soda, candy – don’t pack much nutritive bang. But if we move a little closer to the source, such as with fruit, sweet can be a pretty good indicator of nutrients. Vitamins, minerals, fiber, and heck, even water, can all come along with sweet.
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-- Les, MS RD LD
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