Abstract
This pilot study was conducted to evaluate the impact of spices added to broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach on amount and rate of vegetable consumption. Twenty overweight subjects who routinely ate less than three daily servings of vegetables were recruited. On six occasions, subjects were assigned in random order to eat broccoli, cauliflower, or spinach with or without added spices. Dishes were placed on a modified Universal Eating Monitor (UEM) that recorded rate of eating (g/sec), duration of eating (min) and total amount consumed (g). Total intake and duration of eating were increased significantly for broccoli with spices compared to plain broccoli, but there was no significant difference for cauliflower or spinach. No significant differences were noted in any of the visual analog scale (VAS) responses. This study suggests that adding spices may increase vegetable intake, but more studies in greater numbers of subjects are needed.
Highlights
Increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables is a key component of chronic disease prevention efforts and has been shown to reduce the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes [1] [2]
Subjects already eating more than three servings of vegetables per day were excluded at screening using a validated measure of portions in order to eliminate those already eating cruciferous vegetables or spinach regularly [14]
There was no statistical difference between high restraint and low restraint subjects in ethnicity, age, body weight or body mass index (BMI)
Summary
Increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables is a key component of chronic disease prevention efforts and has been shown to reduce the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes [1] [2]. Increased fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with well-established health benefits, consumer and marketing studies have invariably shown that taste, as opposed to perceived nutrition or health value is the key motivator of food selection [3]-[5]. There is evidence in the US population that health and taste are inversely perceived, so that emphasizing the health benefits of a food may discourage some people from choosing that food [6]. This observation may be especially relevant to cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, where bitter taste deters consumption. Innate preferences for sweet taste and innate dislike of bitter taste (fear of alkaloid toxins) and sour taste (aversion towards acids) are determinants of early taste acceptance ([8] [9] [12] [13])
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