Brain Food
Via Futurismic: Jonah Lehrer at seed’s science blogs discusses research into mutant taste-impaired mice who still prefer sugar and other indications of our basic drive for calories.
This is a troubling idea, since it reveals the very deep biological roots underlying the obesity epidemic. Let’s imagine, for instance, that some genius invented a reduced calorie bacon product that tasted exactly like bacon, except it had 50 percent fewer calories. It would obviously be a great day for civilization. But this research suggests that such a pseudo-bacon product, even though it tasted identical to real bacon, would actually give us much less pleasure. Why? Because it made us less fat. Because energy is inherently delicious. Because we are programmed to enjoy calories.
© 2009 M. C. DeMarco
≪ Previous | Next ≫
