为什么有些食物“太好吃了”以至于不能停止吃

为什么有些食物“太好吃了”以至于不能停止吃

It sounds like a mass conspiracy at first: food companies have figured out a way to manufacture foods that are just the right amount of sweet, salty or fatty — and now we can't stop eating them. Unfortunately, it's not that far from reality.

一开始，这听起来像是一个集体阴谋:食品公司已经找到了一种方法，可以生产出适量的甜、咸或高脂肪的食品——而现在我们无法停止食用它们。不幸的是，这离现实并不遥远。

The food industry and restaurants have specifically manipulated ingredients to trigger your brain's reward system — making it harder to stop. (Photo: Lightspring/Shutterstock)

Scientists from the University of Kansas with a similar outlook to Kessler's recently published research in the journal Obesity that finally provides a quantitative definition of what constitutes an HPR. Though countless academic studies, documentaries and popular books have explored the rise of ultra-processed foods and what makes them so addictive, none has managed to define specific metrics for this class of tempting foods.

堪萨斯大学的科学家们与凯斯勒最近在《肥胖》杂志上发表的研究有着相似的观点，该研究最终给出了HPR的定量定义。尽管有无数的学术研究、纪录片和流行书籍探讨了超加工食品的兴起，以及它们如此容易上瘾的原因，但没有人能够为这类诱人的食品定义具体的衡量标准。

If there's no standardized definition, we can't compare across studies — we've just typically used descriptive definitions like 'sweets,' ‘desserts' and 'fast foods.' That type of descriptive definition isn't specific to the actual mechanisms by which the ingredients lead to this enhanced palatability. This has been a substantial limitation in the field I thought was important to try to address.

如果没有标准化的定义，我们就无法在不同的研究中进行比较——我们通常只使用“糖果”、“甜点心”和“快餐”等描述性定义。“这种描述性的定义并不是特定于食材提高口感的实际机制。”在我认为很重要的领域里，这是一个很大的限制。

This new, quantitative definition of HPF was then applied to a government nutrition database to determine the prevalence of HPF in the U.S. food system. The results? Much of the food we eat in this country meet this criteria.

这个新的定量的HPF定义随后被应用到一个政府营养数据库中，以确定HPF在美国食品系统中的流行情况。结果呢?我们国家吃的很多食物都符合这个标准。

The aisle of overeating

暴饮暴食的通道

Researchers at the University of Kansas found that 62% of foods in one government database met the criteria for being 'hyper-palatable.' (Photo: Thayne Tuason [CC by SA 4.0]/Wikimedia Commons)

After analyzing 7,757 food items in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies, researchers found that 62% of foods in the database met the definition of hyper-palatability, including 49% of all items labeled as "low/reduced/no sugar, fat, sodium, and/or sugar." So even if you think you're making a healthy choice, you might be getting fooled.

在分析了美国农业部食品和营养饮食研究数据库中的7757种食品后，研究人员发现，该数据库中62%的食品符合超适口性的定义，包括49%的标签为“低/低/无糖、脂肪、钠和/或糖”的食品。所以，即使你认为自己的选择是健康的，你也可能会被愚弄。

Researchers were also able to single out what tantalizing flavor combinations could result in hyper-palatability: combinations of fat and sodium (hot dogs, bacon); combinations of fat and simple sugars (ice cream, cookies); and combinations of carbohydrates and sodium (pretzels, chips).

研究人员还发现了哪些诱人的味道组合可能会导致超美味:脂肪和钠的组合(热狗、培根);脂肪和单糖的组合(冰淇淋、饼干);碳水化合物和钠的组合(椒盐卷饼，薯片)。

These flavor combinations don't just happen by accident; food scientists spend a lot of time figuring out exactly what amount of sugar, salt and fat will make us reach what Kessler calls the "bliss point."

这些风味组合不是偶然产生的;食品科学家花了很多时间来研究到底多少的糖、盐和脂肪能让我们达到凯斯勒所说的“幸福点”。

Besides knowing that HPF lurk in every aisle of the grocery store, these new definitions will aid researchers in their work on obesity and other diet-related health risks. These problematic foods could also help scientists understand the brain mechanisms that drive our tendency to overeat.

除了知道HPF潜伏在食品杂货店的每个通道之外，这些新的定义还将帮助研究人员研究肥胖和其他与饮食相关的健康风险。这些有问题的食物也可以帮助科学家了解大脑的机制，使我们倾向于过量饮食。

Looking at the many insidious ways HPF is integrated into our existing food system can also assist with future food policy. "We need more evidence — but eventually if research begins to support that these foods may be particularly problematic for society, I think that could warrant something like a food label saying 'this is hyperpalatable.'"

研究将HPF整合到现有食品系统中的许多潜在方式，也有助于未来的食品政策。“我们需要更多的证据——但最终，如果研究开始支持这些食物可能对社会造成特别大的问题，我想这可能会让食品标签上写着‘这是超级美味的’。”