http://www.howlifeworks.com/health_beauty/sensa_hollywood/?cid=8088pe_news_rm
It turns out researchers have accidently figured out a way to make over-eating a thing of the past! The only side effect is that you no longer get to taste food...
As we all know, our brain (particularly our hypothalumus) tells us when we are hungry. Often times the foods we crave are the ones that taste the best, and after all "fat is flavor."
This article talks about the lastest trend to hit Hollywood; Sensa. Sensa is a flavorless, odorless, sprinkle, and when put on food it removes everything we love about food. In the end, it limits our desire to over-eat the good stuff.
In a weight loss experiment, almost 1500 people used Sensa for 6 months while exercising and dieting. The average person lost about 30 pounds!! Sounds like the perfect way to lose the winter weight, and get back into shape for spring break.
A few years ago my mom lost her sense of taste and smell, and she too lost considerate weight. Since many people eat just for the taste of their favorite foods, do you guys think it would really be worth it? Do you think Sensa will catch on, or just be yet another failed attempt to get people to lose weight?
I also have known someone that lost their sense of smell and taste and he dropped quite a few lbs too. This is a very interesting idea. As I was reading this I was eating a grilled cheese sandwich and at first I was like, that would suck to not be able to taste it! But it does make sense that the only real reason we eat foods that are bad for us is because we crave them. If using Sensa made my grilled cheese taste the same as eating broccoli, I might as well eat the broccoli and save the calories and fat. A major reason that diets don't work for a lot of people is because they get strong cravings, and then binge on their favorite foods, but if you were able to sprinkle a little Sensa on your doughnut before you ate it, you would most likely be turned off before the second bite.However, I think once people stopped using Sensa they might return to eating their favorite foods. I think it would be worth trying it if cravings were hard for you to get over, but for most people I think it would be difficult to use the Sensa all the time because you have to essentially ruin your favorite foods. I think Sensa might be popular for awhile, but like most fad diets, will slowly fade away.
I personally love food, and that is half my problem. I love the taste of food. If Sensa took away the things I love of food, yeah I might lose weight, but like Bschuler stated above I would be among those who have strong cravings. If I had a choice, I would not use Sensa, yet I think that there would be some people out there that would. I would rather run 3-4 miles every day (something I don't really like doing) than take away taste of food. At least with running I can still eat the foods that I like and enjoy them. Sense could probably be the next big thing, and I wonder if I will be starting to see ads for it on late night tv where all the rest of the weight-loss program/diet ads are. It will be interesting to see what effect Sensa would have on our society.
I think that Sensa is a great idea for weightloss, but I don't think it will stick. Many people overeat because they love the taste of the food and eat so quickly that their body doesn't tell them that they are full fast enough. I definately think that this mehtod of sprinkling this substance on food would help people lose weight, but I also think that it will be extremely hard to get people to commit to it. People trying this method will most likely still have their cravings and either not springle the substance on their food after awhile or just go and eat something else. I know when I am hungry I always think to myself of what sounds the best to eat at that time and that's what I eat. Sensa would not eliminate the cravings, it would just eliminate the flavor, which would leave you disappointed. If people did follow through with this method, though, healthy changes could be made. If you know you're not going to be able to taste the food you are eating, wouldn't you order healthier food, because taste isn't even a consideration? This may also decrease the amount of fast food you would eat. It sounds like a great idea, but I don't think too many would be able to follow through with the lifestyle.
This reminds me of the pill Antabuse for alcoholics. The idea is that you take the pill, and then when you drink, you get sick, therefore making you stop wanting to drink. However, the major flaw with Antabuse was that alcoholics would just stop taking it so they could continue to drink. I see the same flaw here. Unless you really want to change your habits, why would you willingly put Sensa on your food. I think for people who are serious about the lifestyle change, it could work. However, for the rest of the world, wouldn't the flavor of your favorite food outweigh the reward of the lost weight? For further reading, here's a link to some information on Antabuse.
http://alcoholism.about.com/od/meds/a/antabuse.htm