Researchers have disproved the long-held belief that sweets are addictive and habit-forming. It turns out that a love of sugar is not the result of habit, but an innate taste preference.
In a six-month study conducted in the US with the participation of 180 adults, scientists proved that the amount of sweets in the diet does not affect the subsequent desire to eat sweets, does not change appetite and does not contribute to weight gain. This was reported by SciTechDaily , citing a publication by scientists from Wageningen University (Netherlands) as part of an international research team.
Participants were divided into three groups: with high, low and average levels of consumption of sweet foods. The diet of some included jam, chocolate, sweet dairy products, while others received mainly unsweetened foods - cheese, ham, hummus, peanut butter. For half a year, the participants were sent ready-made sets of products for consumption, and changes in taste preferences, overall diet, weight and health status were regularly recorded.
The result surprised even some of the researchers: no matter how much sweet the participants ate, their love for this taste did not change. And most importantly, it did not increase. People who consumed more sweet did not show signs of "addiction", and those who ate less did not love it less.
Additionally, neither group showed any changes in total calorie intake, protein, fat, and carbohydrate intake, body weight, or risks of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Lead author of the study, Professor of Sensory Science Keis de Graaf, stressed that avoiding sugar “just in case” has no scientific basis. In his opinion, now based on this data we can build more balanced approaches to nutrition without panicking about sweets.
The next stage is to study the impact of sweet foods on children. After all, it is at an early age that basic food preferences are formed.
