A great many factors influence how much humans eat—and overeat. Social, environmental, psychological, economic, and biological factors can all trigger our appetites to behave badly. Among those pressures, flavor ranks as the most important: we tend to eat more of that which tastes good to us.
In our struggle with our weight, we often find that willpower alone is not enough to overcome the addictiveness of the foods that surround—and tempt—us day in and day out. We may be able to put up with the tedium of a low fat, low carb diet for a day or two, or for several weeks even; over time, however, our willpower weakens, and we backslide into unhealthy eating habits again. We need a more powerful weapon that can sustain us in our fight against weight gain. Flavor is such a weapon.
We all know that foods high in volume, such as vegetables, fruits, soups and stews, fill one up with fewer calories. These wholesome foods are also generally rich in nutrients. Making them a regular part of a healthful diet, on the other hand, can be difficult because most people don’t like the taste of vegetables.
Is there a way to flavor up the veggies to make them more palatable? The answer is yes.
In my experience, we can arrive at a happy compromise between flavor and wholesomeness by mixing veggies with meats or stir-frying veggies in small amounts of oil.
Have you noticed that sweet foods taste even sweeter when they are made with oil? This is because fat can serve as a vehicle for flavors. Even though it may not add a specific flavor to food, it enhances the potency of other added flavors. In the case of sugared foods, the oil distributes the sweetness throughout the mouth. Similarly, when we add oil to veggies, it can bring out all the hidden flavors in them and make them more delicious.
We have two picky eaters at our house. Both abhor veggies and wouldn’t touch veggies regardless of my best efforts to persuade them to. One day, I tried a recipe I got from a friend of mine. When stewing pork spare ribs, I put in some carrot and turnip cubes. The dish turned out to be a big success. Both of my children asked for seconds—something that never happened before.
Another favorite dish of ours is sesame tofu. Tofu, as we all know, is rich in protein and calcium. A lot of people are aware of its nutritional value but shy away from it because of its drab and slightly bitter taste. The next time you eat tofu, try adding one drop of sesame oil and some soy sauce to taste. You will find that the whole thing tastes different.
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Healthy me on a budget to lose weight