LIKE almost every dieter in America, Wendy Bassett has used all sorts of weight-loss products. Nothing worked, she said, until she tried Sensa: granules she scatters on almost everything she eats, and which are supposed to make dieters less hungry by enhancing the smell and taste of food.
— Read more at A Slimmer You May Be a Whiff Away at The New York Times, with many thanks to Jessica for the link!
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Interesting article. If I read it right, there seem to be three different mechanisms people are trying: a) making food smell so good the brain is sated after eating less, b) making food unappealing, or c)smelling some scent throughout the day that makes people less hungry in general (the peppermint). Odd, since a) and b) seem diametrically opposed. Offhand you’d think making food unappealing would work better, kind of like that drug that makes alcoholics sick if they drink alcohol, but maybe one reason people eat more is that they don’t really taste what they eat.
Then there’s the Shangri La diet, which as I understand it involves clipping your nose so that food doesn’t smell at all. Apparently some people swear by the method…
Doesn’t the Shangri La diet involve quaffing olive oil? In any case, I think enhancing the smell and taste of food would be more effective than masking it — I don’t think I’ve ever pigged out on super-intense dark chocolate, but milk chocolate is another matter! And when I had an endless sinus infection a few months ago and couldn’t taste a thing, I ate plenty out of sheer boredom, unhappiness, and desperation in seeking gustatory pleasure. Come to think of it, one of the heftiest people I’ve ever known had no sense of smell/taste (no, not that poor chef I mentioned yesterday).
Now that is interesting. Maybe some overeating is part of a sensory-integration problem; people who have a reduced sense of smell, or whose brains don’t process scent as efficiently, keep eating because their brains keep waiting for the gustatory shut-off to be tripped.
Yes, that too! But you clip your nose while you down the olive oil too, sadly.
I know I “graze” more when I’m bored….and when feeling down I head right for nice salty chips…holding my nose would at best just slow me down because only one hand would be available for the feeding frenzy.
I did watch a show on the discovery channel one time where they did a study about obesity and eating habits….this is sort of a no-brainer but it’s good to have clinical back-up : an incredibly large percentage of participants (sorry don’t remember the number) ate at least 20% more when they ate while watching TV.
Yeah, I’ve had a lot of clients with eating disorders, and I can say people all overeat for different reasons. This might work for some, but not all. And truly, most people who eat when they’re bored really don’t care what anything tastes like!
This would only make me eat more I’m afraid. IMHO, there’s no magic bullet, (I wish there was).
If there was a magic bullet …could someone please aim it at my hips and thighs??
Anything that actually is effective makes you crazy.
Anyone remember Mother’s Little Helper?
I think if I sprinkled flavour enhancers over my food that made it taste twice as good, I’d eat twice as much!
LOL…me too.