Why Do Fatty Foods Taste So Good?

This evening, I went to Marie Calender's for dinner. I am trying to watch my calories, so I ordered from the light and healthy menu plan. I had Atlantic Salmon with vegies. The waitress brought me a salad initially, as an appetizer and while I was eating it, I thought to myself how bland it tasted. Then, she brought me the Atlantic Salmon and it looked divine. However, instead of my ever favorite tarter sauce, rich and loaded with calories, she brought me some sort of vinagerette to dip the fish in and when I did so, I thought, YUKKKK!!!!!! So, as the blogger I have become, I started right then and there to write about my experience. Why, oh why, does blue cheese dressing and regular, fat-filled tarter sauce taste so much better than vinagerette dressing? I vowed that when I arrived home, I would do a little research and here it goes. Some people think that those tastes that we crave are "fundamentally wired in" to us, at least that is according to Dr. Zata Vickers, a food scientist at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Vickers believes that we are acutally programmed to LEARN to like certain foods, ultimately the bad ones. Studies have shown that when we are born, we have inherent likes for certain tastes, such as sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami (the latest "5th taste" found in meat and broth). We are programmed to like the high fat foods as they are the ones most loaded with high caloric value. Dr. Vickers believes this goes back in history to when we were hunter-gatherers and as a matter of survival needed to focus on the most calorie-rich foods. The problem with this concept, however, is that food, for most of us, is no longer a scarce commodity. Think about it. What do you crave more, donuts or or broccoli?. Dr. Vickers believes that much of this is psychological and that we are conditioned to crave certain foods actually since childhood. "If you go to a birthday party that is a lot of fun when you are a kid what do they have? They have candy or some cake," said Vickers. Studies have proven that our liking for foods increase when they are paired with fun. Think about why McDonald's calls their kids meal a "Happy Meal" and puts a toy in the box. Dr. Vickers also believes that there is something we do wrong at the dinner table with our kids. When trying to get kids to eat vegetables, parents often say, "if you eat your peas you can have dessert." Dr. Vickers believes that "if you want your kid to like peas that is not a good thing to do at all." She feels that when we use rewards for eating better, we tend to like those healthy foods even less and like the reward food even more. So, what is the moral to the story? I believe that if we are to change our eating habits, we need to reprogram our tastebuds along with associating non-fatty foods with FUN! So, the next time you have a dinner party at your house, try cooking FAT FREE. Or, the next party for your kids, consider learning how to reduce the fat content when baking a cake, by trying a low fat, low calorie cake, such as this Lemon Pudding Cake or Low Fat Chocolate Cake. I bet your kids won't even know the difference and it will be much healthier for them in the long run! Learn to indulge yourself with healthy foods, to savor every bite of what is actually good for you! In time, just a few short weeks, your tastebuds will rejoice in the flavors that you have taught them to love!