Tag Archives: Weird

The Weird Thing That Makes Food Taste Better

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Ever wonder why your morning coffee tastes best in your favorite mug? Or why pizza’s flavor changes when you eat it with a knife and fork instead of your hands? You’re not imagining things. The weight, color, size, and shape of your cutlery can influence the way your food tastes, according to a recent study.

Researchers at Oxford University conducted three experiments to find out how cutlery affects flavor. In two, participants sampled yogurt with spoons of varying sizes, weights, styles, and colors. In the third experiment, researchers tested to see whether eating cheese with a fork, knife, spoon, or toothpick would make a difference, taste-wise.

Even though each participant tried the same food repeatedly with different utensils, they said that the yogurt or cheese tasted different every time. When eaten with a lighter spoon, yogurt tasted denser and seemed more expensive, for example. Smaller spoons, meanwhile, tended to make the yogurt taste sweeter. And cheese was perceived as sharpest and saltiest when eaten off of a knife.

So, why does cutlery matter if the food stays the same? “We have expectations of what something will taste like before the food reaches our mouths,” says Harrar. “When cutlery is unexpected, we can’t use this automatic system.” So depending on the utensil, you’re more likely to pay attention to different aspects of the flavor or texture that might normally go unnoticed.

Pretty interesting stuff. Not that it’s any reason to go splurge on new cutlery, but it does help explain why you always reach for the same spoon over and over again.

photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

More from Women’s Health:
Mindful Eating: Clean (Up) Your Plate
5 Ways to Trick Yourself Into Eating Less
How Greek Is Your “Greek” Yogurt?

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The Weird Reason You’re Starving

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The next time you feel positively starving, consider this: you might just be starved for sleep. People feel hungrier and reach for larger portions when they skimp on sleep, according to a new Uppsala University study.

Researchers asked 16 men to select the ideal serving size of meals and snacks before and after they ate breakfast on two separate mornings: once after sleeping for eight hours, and again after they didn’t sleep at all. As it happened, the sleepy guys picked larger portions of all the foods before they ate breakfast. They also were more likely to reach for snack foods—even after a morning meal.

Previous studies have shown that when you stay awake all night, your body burns about 7 percent more calories. So it makes sense that sleep-deprived people compensate by eating a little bit more. But there’s another reason you’re likely to crave salty, sweet, or savory snacks instead of a wholesome meal when you’re tired: Sleep deprivation makes the brain more sensitive to the rewarding properties of food, says study author Pleunie Hogenkamp, Ph.D. Meaning: When your eyelids droop, temping foods seem much more delicious, so you’re more likely to want them in larger quantities.

The best way to prevent your eyes from becoming larger than your stomach is to get sufficient sleep. And when your work schedule (or Homeland marathon habit) interferes with your bedtime? Manage morning hunger pangs with a protein-rich, high-fiber breakfast that includes healthy fats, like quinoa with almond milk, a tablespoon of chopped almonds, and a hard-boiled egg on the side, says Women’s Health nutrition expert Keri Glassman, R.D.

photo: Africa Studio/Shutterstock

More from Women’s Health:
How Your Diet Impacts Your Sleep
How to Sleep With a Man (and Actually Sleep)
9 Natural Ways to Get More Energy

 

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