Gritty is good – it’s all about texture
The latest tool in tackling obesity might not come down to how much we are eating – but the texture of our food.
A world-first study from the University of Auckland suggests that foods with a higher ‘‘textural complexity’’ can make our brain think it’s fuller, sooner.
Until now, it was commonly believed that the only link between texture and feeling full was that higher-textured foods took longer to chew.
The idea being that the more slowly you eat, the less food you consume before feeling full.
But now a three-year study led by food engineer Professor Bryony James has proven texture has a different effect on the brain altogether.
‘‘We had a hypothesis that if someone was eating something that had a lot of different textures, your brain’s going to be getting lots of different sensations – your brain’s going to be going, ‘Ooh, crunchy! Ooh, chewy! Ooh, slimy!’
‘‘So your brain’s going to think you’ve eaten all of these different foods – and you’re going to fool your system a little bit,’’ James said.
To test this theory, the team developed two different ‘‘model foods’’.
Both were made of gummy gelatin bases, and had identical flavour, energy and calories, but one was filled with sunflower seeds, a chewy disk, poppy seeds, and a flour crisp – producing crunchy, crispy, chewy, gritty and ‘‘melty’’ sensations all at once.
Participants were given one type of the model food, then allowed to eat as much pasta and chocolate cake as they liked.
Those people given the ‘‘higher textured’’ portion ate significantly less pasta and chocolate cake than the other group – 156.6 grams on average.
‘‘There’s all sorts of reasons why people eat more or less, and I’m not claiming that we’ve fixed it but we’re chuffed with this result . . . for the first time an impact on food texture on satiation has been shown.’’
James said that the study could have wider implications in the health industry.
‘‘Increasing textural complexity in many processed foods, particularly those that contain high levels of sugar or salt, could be the key to helping us eat less by making us feel fuller earlier.’’ said.
It was widely accepted that about 70 per cent of parents of overweight children didn’t realise or accept that the youngsters were overweight, he said.
It was important not to stigmatise obesity, and messages around eating better and exercising more often gave the implication that what was being done was not enough.