2023-10-11 04:21:25
More than a century ago, specifically in 1907, the Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda discovered the fifth flavor, umami, which in Spanish could be translated as ‘delicious’ and which characteristically has a spicy flavor.
Umami, among other things, is produced by glutamate which, as we will now see, is found in flavor enhancers, but also in some natural substances. Thus, we find glutamate in cheeses – such as Roquefort, Gorgonzola or Parmesan -, in meats, fish or legumes. In general, it can be said that the more mature a cheese is, the greater the amount of glutamate it contains.
The more glutamate, the greater the intake
Glutamate belongs to the large family of flavor enhancers, chemical compounds or food additives that make foods increase their flavor and be more attractive to our palate.
There is a huge variety of flavor enhancers, the best known being E621, also called monosodium glutamate. This additive can be found in broths, packaged soups or frozen salty products, where it enhances the palatability of all of them.
Glutamate is also responsible for stimulating specific receptors on the tongue, which send signals to the brain and invite us to eat more. Along these lines, a study carried out by researchers at Deakin University (Australia) showed that those people who tried the same food simply needed the addition of a greater amount of glutamate for the diner to ingest up to 11% more. meal.
An enormously complex polynomial
Now let’s get to the fries. We already know, we start with one, but behind it comes another, and another… and so on until we finish with the bag. Once we start, it is very difficult for us to say no. Now, why does this happen? That have?
It has long been known that when we eat foods rich in fat, different signals are generated, one that travels to the brain and others that, through the vagus nerve, reach the intestine. There they are able to stimulate the production of endocannabinoids, which in turn activate other cells that are responsible for the insatiable desire to finish off the plate. Various studies have shown that this effect is not reproduced when foods are rich in proteins or sugars.
The good news about these types of findings is that, in the not too distant future, it will be possible to manufacture drugs capable of blocking the production of intestinal endocannabinoids and, therefore, eliminating the stimulus that makes us ingest more fat.
French fries have a high fat composition, but the addiction does not lie here, at least, not only here. And a group of scientists from the Teutonic University of Erlangen-Nurember, led by Tobías Hoch, demonstrated that when rats were given French fries and a specific magnetic resonance imaging was performed, brain areas related to reward, pleasure and satisfaction were activated. addiction.
This situation was not reproduced, as could be thought a priori, when the laboratory animals were fed with feed made with the same composition as potatoes, in other words, fats and carbohydrates were not sufficient reason for there to be a form compulsive eating.
This is where monosodium glutamate or E-621 comes into play, that flavoring and preservative substance to which we have already referred, which is part of the composition of the bag of chips and which plays a prominent role in addiction to chips. chips.
Surely at this point some readers do not feel completely identified with the exhibition, since French fries do not generate any type of addiction for them. He is able to say no to the third fry. Indeed, this can happen. And there is a third variable in the polynomial: genetics. As happens, for example, with gambling, there is a genetic basis that causes certain people to have a predisposition to develop certain food addictions.
#French #fries #addictive