Your Brain On Cheeto Dust?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Talking about ultra-processed foods is everywhere. But not sure what to make of the claim that your brain secretly loves the mess from neon orange Cheeto dust? Uh, no.

(From The Guardian:)

Cheetos themselves are especially addictive for all those reasons – and more. Cheetos are “one of the most marvelously constructed foods on the planet, in terms of pure pleasure”, food scientist Steven Witherly [told] the New York Times reporter Michael Moss in 2013. “If something melts down quickly, your brain thinks that there’s no calories in it … you can just keep eating it forever.”

It’s not just the fact that Cheetos, quite literally, melt in your mouth that make them so addictive. The sticky orange powder, [according to researchers at the marketing group NeuroFocus], also elicits a powerful reaction from consumers – although they might act annoyed, their brains secretly delight in the mess.. And a 2015 [study from researchers at Oxford] even found that crunchy snacks, like Cheetos, can trick your brain into thinking the food is fresher than it is.

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For me it’s the Simply Cheetos White Cheddar Puffs. And now I see it comes in Jalapeno. Send help quickly! Maybe there’s a pill I can take that makes the taste terrible so I’ll switch back to something better for me. It’s really difficult to stay away now that I can almost afford to eat again.

4

You’re lost to us. I’m afraid.

The lil’wrekker is addicted to those. She can get manic without them.

Nice to have known you.:smiling_face:

5

Though maybe people like messy foods - chicken wings and ribs and frozen treats taste delicious. Maybe mess subconsciously helps people feel young again; life was pretty sweet when you were eighteen months.

6

I am definitely a counterpoint. I hate messy foods. No barbecued ribs or chicken or hot wings. If it’s going to get sauce or something on my face or fingers, I’ll pass, thanks.

7

Ditto. And I don’t want to see anyone else wearing their food either. :nauseated_face:

8

Now hear this. I don’t want to be wearing my food, but I’ve been blessed with a bustline that catches anything and everthing unless I am rude and eat with my plate strapped to my chin.

Now, pass the Cheetos.

9

DISCLAIMER: I am a retail electronics associate, not a nutritionist.

But it seems to me that Modern Society’s ills stem from flavor enhancers — you know — those refined starches and proteins from monosodium glutamate (MSG) on up that are added to all processed food to give it that extra kick.

These so-called flavor enhancers don’t actually enhance flavor. They are sources of free glutamate, which produces in the brain an instantaneous feeling of satiety. This feeling (I object to the term umami.) comes on quickly enough to reinforce psychologically taking the first bite. Small wonder that consumers insist on that feeling being there and pay extra for the processed foods that contain flavor enhancers.

You can spot flavor enhancers in the ingredients list on a package of processed food.

FLAVOR_ENHANCERS = [
    re.compile(r'(\bmsg\b)'),
    re.compile(r'(glutamic)'),
    re.compile(r'(glutamate)'),
    re.compile(r'(autolyzed)'),
    re.compile(r'(hydrolyzed)'),
    re.compile(r'(caseinate)'),
    re.compile(r'(yeast .+)'),
    re.compile(r'(torula)'),
    re.compile(r'(maltodextrin)'),
    re.compile(r'(oligodextrin)'),
    re.compile(r'(carrageenan)'),
    re.compile(r'(vetsin)'),
    re.compile(r'(protease)'),
    re.compile(r'(proteninate)'),
    re.compile(r'(protein)'),
#    re.compile(r'(enzymes?)'),
    re.compile(r'(textured)'),
    re.compile(r'(fermented)'),
    re.compile(r'(modified)'),
    re.compile(r'(isolated?)'),
#    re.compile(r'(cultured?)'),
    re.compile(r'(fortified)'),
    re.compile(r'(extracted?)'),
#    re.compile(r'(concentrated?)'),
    re.compile(r'(guanylate)'),
    re.compile(r'(inosinate)'),
    re.compile(r'(ribonucleotides?)'),
    re.compile(r'(ajinomoto)'),
    re.compile(r'(umami)'),
#    re.compile(r'(flavor)'),
    re.compile(r'(seasonings?)'),
    re.compile(r'(/bgelatin/b)'),
    re.compile(r'(ultra.?pasteurized)'),
    ]

Flavor enhancers are not cheap. Why do food processors include them? It must be that their value is well known to be worth it. I suppose that, by including them, cost savings may be achieved on other more essential ingredients. The public can be presented something that will sell and out-compete preparations lacking flavor enhancers.

Let me go further to say that the obesity epidemic is due to the ubiquity of flavor enhancers in processed food because they act in the brain to reinforce consumption to the detriment of real nutrition.

10

If MSG triggers feelings of satiety, then why on Earth would snack food makers include it? That’s the last thing they want.

11

Wow, we’re cycling back around to “MSG is bad” again?

12

While Cheetos manufacturers deliberately make their product addictive by having over fifty qualities that directly appeal to most people (crunchiness, saltiness, mouthfeel, etc.), I doubt they are unsafe - just not a particularly good source of nutrition.

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I would argue that, in itself, that is ultimately unsafe. Because it makes me crave more of it enough to give into the craving on a regular basis, it is unsafe. But that argument might not hold up in court. Rather, they would argue that my poor self control is all my fault, not theirs.

You know, kinda like the gun lobby.