為什么有些食物“太好吃了”以至于不能停止吃

為什么有些食物“太好吃了”以至于不能停止吃

It sounds like a mass conspiracy at first: food companies have figured out a way to manufacture foods that are just the right amount of sweet, salty or fatty — and now we can't stop eating them. Unfortunately, it's not that far from reality.

一開始，這聽起來像是一個(gè)集體陰謀:食品公司已經(jīng)找到了一種方法，可以生產(chǎn)出適量的甜、咸或高脂肪的食品——而現(xiàn)在我們無法停止食用它們。不幸的是，這離現(xiàn)實(shí)并不遙遠(yuǎn)。

The food industry and restaurants have specifically manipulated ingredients to trigger your brain's reward system — making it harder to stop. (Photo: Lightspring/Shutterstock)

Scientists from the University of Kansas with a similar outlook to Kessler's recently published research in the journal Obesity that finally provides a quantitative definition of what constitutes an HPR. Though countless academic studies, documentaries and popular books have explored the rise of ultra-processed foods and what makes them so addictive, none has managed to define specific metrics for this class of tempting foods.

堪薩斯大學(xué)的科學(xué)家們與凱斯勒最近在《肥胖》雜志上發(fā)表的研究有著相似的觀點(diǎn)，該研究最終給出了HPR的定量定義。盡管有無數(shù)的學(xué)術(shù)研究、紀(jì)錄片和流行書籍探討了超加工食品的興起，以及它們?nèi)绱巳菀咨习a的原因，但沒有人能夠?yàn)檫@類誘人的食品定義具體的衡量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

If there's no standardized definition, we can't compare across studies — we've just typically used descriptive definitions like 'sweets,' ‘desserts' and 'fast foods.' That type of descriptive definition isn't specific to the actual mechanisms by which the ingredients lead to this enhanced palatability. This has been a substantial limitation in the field I thought was important to try to address.

如果沒有標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化的定義，我們就無法在不同的研究中進(jìn)行比較——我們通常只使用“糖果”、“甜點(diǎn)心”和“快餐”等描述性定義。“這種描述性的定義并不是特定于食材提高口感的實(shí)際機(jī)制。”在我認(rèn)為很重要的領(lǐng)域里，這是一個(gè)很大的限制。

This new, quantitative definition of HPF was then applied to a government nutrition database to determine the prevalence of HPF in the U.S. food system. The results? Much of the food we eat in this country meet this criteria.

這個(gè)新的定量的HPF定義隨后被應(yīng)用到一個(gè)政府營(yíng)養(yǎng)數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)中，以確定HPF在美國(guó)食品系統(tǒng)中的流行情況。結(jié)果呢?我們國(guó)家吃的很多食物都符合這個(gè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

The aisle of overeating

暴飲暴食的通道

Researchers at the University of Kansas found that 62% of foods in one government database met the criteria for being 'hyper-palatable.' (Photo: Thayne Tuason [CC by SA 4.0]/Wikimedia Commons)

After analyzing 7,757 food items in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies, researchers found that 62% of foods in the database met the definition of hyper-palatability, including 49% of all items labeled as "low/reduced/no sugar, fat, sodium, and/or sugar." So even if you think you're making a healthy choice, you might be getting fooled.

在分析了美國(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)部食品和營(yíng)養(yǎng)飲食研究數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)中的7757種食品后，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，該數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)中62%的食品符合超適口性的定義，包括49%的標(biāo)簽為“低/低/無糖、脂肪、鈉和/或糖”的食品。所以，即使你認(rèn)為自己的選擇是健康的，你也可能會(huì)被愚弄。

Researchers were also able to single out what tantalizing flavor combinations could result in hyper-palatability: combinations of fat and sodium (hot dogs, bacon); combinations of fat and simple sugars (ice cream, cookies); and combinations of carbohydrates and sodium (pretzels, chips).

研究人員還發(fā)現(xiàn)了哪些誘人的味道組合可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致超美味:脂肪和鈉的組合(熱狗、培根);脂肪和單糖的組合(冰淇淋、餅干);碳水化合物和鈉的組合(椒鹽卷餅，薯片)。

These flavor combinations don't just happen by accident; food scientists spend a lot of time figuring out exactly what amount of sugar, salt and fat will make us reach what Kessler calls the "bliss point."

這些風(fēng)味組合不是偶然產(chǎn)生的;食品科學(xué)家花了很多時(shí)間來研究到底多少的糖、鹽和脂肪能讓我們達(dá)到凱斯勒所說的“幸福點(diǎn)”。

Besides knowing that HPF lurk in every aisle of the grocery store, these new definitions will aid researchers in their work on obesity and other diet-related health risks. These problematic foods could also help scientists understand the brain mechanisms that drive our tendency to overeat.

除了知道HPF潛伏在食品雜貨店的每個(gè)通道之外，這些新的定義還將幫助研究人員研究肥胖和其他與飲食相關(guān)的健康風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。這些有問題的食物也可以幫助科學(xué)家了解大腦的機(jī)制，使我們傾向于過量飲食。

Looking at the many insidious ways HPF is integrated into our existing food system can also assist with future food policy. "We need more evidence — but eventually if research begins to support that these foods may be particularly problematic for society, I think that could warrant something like a food label saying 'this is hyperpalatable.'"

研究將HPF整合到現(xiàn)有食品系統(tǒng)中的許多潛在方式，也有助于未來的食品政策。“我們需要更多的證據(jù)——但最終，如果研究開始支持這些食物可能對(duì)社會(huì)造成特別大的問題，我想這可能會(huì)讓食品標(biāo)簽上寫著‘這是超級(jí)美味的’。”