VERY INTERESTING. This may be why some can't stop eating

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ninerbuff
ninerbuff Posts: 48,585 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I always look into different articles and links to learn more and more about information affiliated with nutrition and science. And came across how "textures" of food affect us.
Seems as if crispy/crunchy is one of those that we crave more compared to mushy. Here's a link:

http://www.ifst.org/learninghome/helpforteachers/lessonplantopics/foodtexture/

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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Replies

  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    Tagging to read later...

    But why is it that "mushy" things like ice cream and mashed potatoes seem to make me want more of them? Hmmm.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,585 Member
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    Tagging to read later...

    But why is it that "mushy" things like ice cream and mashed potatoes seem to make me want more of them? Hmmm.
    Seems it's dependent on personal preference. I have to finish the whole article, but from what I've read so far, it's very interesting.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • etoiles_argentees
    etoiles_argentees Posts: 2,827 Member
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    I don't agree. I like mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, ice cream and so on. That's just me though... exits. :)
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
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    I will eat potato chips until I think I might throw up. Crispy has me beat down and gets me to surrender every time.
  • aberc
    aberc Posts: 98
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    I believe it, because I crave crunchy foods a lot and that's normally what leads to my snacking.
    Whenever I snack, it's not usually because of boredom. I get very bad cravings for crunchy textures, and unfortunately that's all of your chips, pretzels, popcorn, cereals, etc..

    I have to snack on carrots and lettuce now :(
  • j75j75
    j75j75 Posts: 854 Member
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    The ultimate decision, smooth peanut butter or chunky peanut butter???
  • 9jenn9
    9jenn9 Posts: 309 Member
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    Many years ago, I did Nutrisystem. (I was young and dumb. Don't judge me!) One of the ideas behind how they designed their menu was something called "flavor set point" Part of it had to do with including all the textures of "real food" when dieting. Part of the reason super restrictive diets don't work is because they may not give you enough crunch, or chewy or whatever it is you crave. Which is pretty funny coming from Nutrisystem, which at the time, included freeze dried hamburgers that had to be reconstituted with boiling water!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,585 Member
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    I believe it, because I crave crunchy foods a lot and that's normally what leads to my snacking.
    Whenever I snack, it's not usually because of boredom. I get very bad cravings for crunchy textures, and unfortunately that's all of your chips, pretzels, popcorn, cereals, etc..

    I have to snack on carrots and lettuce now :(
    I personally love crunchy too. Which is why ice is something I'm always eating.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,585 Member
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    The ultimate decision, smooth peanut butter or chunky peanut butter???
    Chunky all the way!!!

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • redladywitch
    redladywitch Posts: 799 Member
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    Tagged for later
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
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    This is true for me. Chocolate covered crunchy things are my downfall!
  • corneredbycorn
    corneredbycorn Posts: 267 Member
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    I definitely crave crunchy stuff, especially fried. My favorites are fried chicken, French fries, mozzarella sticks, potato chips, and those peanut butter chocolate bars that have those crunchy wafers inside.

    That said, some of my favorites, in general, are definitely mushy. Mashed potatoes with too much gravy, chicken and dumplings, green bean casserole, chili and soup in general.
  • gmaster123
    gmaster123 Posts: 2
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    interesting. and good job for losing all that weight! go niners
  • qn4bx9pzg8aifd
    qn4bx9pzg8aifd Posts: 258 Member
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    I definitely crave crunchy stuff, especially fried. My favorites are fried chicken, French fries, mozzarella sticks, potato chips, and those peanut butter chocolate bars that have those crunchy wafers inside.

    That said, some of my favorites, in general, are definitely mushy. Mashed potatoes with too much gravy, chicken and dumplings, green bean casserole, chili and soup in general.


    This is interesting... what you've conveyed is very much the same for me, and got me thinking, "why do I crave the crunchy stuff at various times, but the mushy stuff, at other times...?" -- and it occurred to me that something associated with crunchy food is that the 'nature' of the chewing involves a more 'forceful' ('destruction' ;) of that into which one has bitten), and multi-sensory kind of response (one can *hear* the result of chewing, when crunchy food is involved) -- but in thinking about this, my cravings for mushy foods involve such foods being a kind of 'quiet' food (both with respect to how quiet they 'sound', when chewing them, and also with respect to how I tend to be, 'internally', when eating them), and mushy foods seem to function as being forms of 'comfort food' for me, or are otherwise more 'softly' soothing, to an extent.

    For me, it's kind of like crunchy foods are a craving analogue to moods when there is a preference for 'rock' music, or 'loud tones' (so to speak), or which otherwise involve forms of stress for which a kind of 'active' 'sinking my teeth into' food kind of mood is 'in play'... but mushy foods would seem to be a craving analogue for when there is a preference for 'classic' music, or 'soft tones' (so to speak), or which otherwise involve forms of stress for which a kind of 'quiet', gentle, and/or 'curling up on a couch' kind of mood is 'in play'...


    Does that sound crazy?
  • pondmermaid
    pondmermaid Posts: 43 Member
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    absolutely! Mushy is yuck
  • pondmermaid
    pondmermaid Posts: 43 Member
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    ouch- chewing ice is really hard on your teeth watch out for that
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    I always look into different articles and links to learn more and more about information affiliated with nutrition and science. And came across how "textures" of food affect us.
    Seems as if crispy/crunchy is one of those that we crave more compared to mushy. Here's a link:

    http://www.ifst.org/learninghome/helpforteachers/lessonplantopics/foodtexture/

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    Having been in the restaurant biz before, I can tell you crispy as a texture = profit. Anecdotal observations of course, but they reinforce the position stated. Quite interesting, no?
  • danglarity
    danglarity Posts: 31 Member
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    I don't eat any type of prepared eggs (mushy and ugh!). When I eat ice cream it has to have something you bite into inside it (crunchy and yum!)
  • gwhizeh
    gwhizeh Posts: 265 Member
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    Food companies have entire teams of scientists just to keep you craving and buying more. Texture is one of those things. Right down to how much force it requires to chew. There was an article not to long ago about this. A former food company scientist that quit because he felt wrong basically making ways to get people addicted to products so the company could make more profit. It was very interesting.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,970 Member
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    As a chef, texture is paramount. For me it was always trying to deliver a great experience based on what I perceived the gold standard on texture of any particular food to be, given the cooking method chosen, because that will dictate differing textures as well. Combining texture, think Creme Brulee, where a luscious creamy custard is topped with a layer of hard caramel is a more complex texture, nevertheless the overall mouthfeel/texture is what makes this dish a classic. Yup, texture is paramount.

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