I'm sure I'm not the only one looking forward to relaxing my usual healthy regime in favour of some Christmas indulgence, and whilst I won't be going on a chocolate/alcohol bender I am looking forward to some Christmas treats such as my mum's pork and apple stuffing (I eat more of that than of the turkey!), a nice big slice of stollen and a healthy dose of champagne!!
So my final thoughts for the year are treat-related, inspired by a friend's question ... why are the foods that are bad for you also the tastiest. My first thought was that this is also true for men ... but that's for another blog! When it comes to food there are some simple answers:
Firstly most tasty treat food contains either sugar or fat or both, why?
- Sugar is addictive and so eating it makes us want to eat more of that food. It is a strong taste on the taste buds and has a drug like effect when eaten producing feelings of euphoria and energy highs ... which are sadly followed by sugar lows.
- Fats are extremely effective flavour carriers making flavours richer and deeper. This is why the fatty cuts of meat, including steak, taste better and why the full-fat muffin will always taste better than the skinny one.
Combine fats and sugar together (ice cream, donuts, chocolate, cake etc.) and you get a super taste hit for your taste buds. This is why sugar is often found in savoury foods you wouldn't expect it to be in (pizza, gravy, soup, crisps) - to provide that super combo to make the food even more moorish.
So the sad truth is the 'tasty' food is often the 'naughty' food, but it is possible to adjust your taste buds to enjoy much healthier foods. However it's Christmas so let's leave that for the New Year and enjoy in a little naughtiness!
I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas and New Year and I look forward to blogging to you all again in 2011.
------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment