Study: Tastier food may mean thinner waist

CHICAGO, June 18 (UPI) -- Tastier food -- using calorie-free seasonings and sweeteners -- can make people feel full faster so they eat less, U.S. researchers venture.

Dr. Alan Hirsch, director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, asked 2,436 overweight or obese people to sprinkle a variety of savory or sweet crystals on their food before eating their meals during the six-month study period. Subjects put liberal applications of the salt-free savory flavors on salty foods and applied the sugar-free sweet crystals on sweet or neutral-tasting foods.

The hidden flavors were cheddar cheese, onion, horseradish, ranch dressing, taco, or parmesan. Sweet flavors were cocoa, spearmint, banana, strawberry, raspberry and malt. A control group of 100 volunteers did not use tastants. Both groups were allowed to diet and exercise if that is what they were already doing.

At the start of the study, the treatment group had an average weight of 208 pounds and average BMI of 34 -- considered obese. After six months of using the crystals, the 1,436 subjects who completed the study lost an average of 30.5 pounds, compared with 2 pounds for the controls.

The findings were presented at The Endocrine Society's 90th annual meeting in San Francisco.