Sprinkle Diet: Forget Counting Calories And Carbs

Sprinkle Diet: Forget Counting Calories And Carbs

Sprinkle Diet: Forget Counting Calories And Carbs

HEALTH NEWS ¡ª We are learning about a new tool that could soon be used in the country's fight against obesity. It is called the Sprinkle Diet.
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A dash here, and a sprinkle there could be the recipe to weight loss, says Dr. Alan Hirsch, of the Smell and Taste Treatment Research Foundation of Chicago.
In an ongoing study conducted by Dr. Hirsch, participants are given sweet and salty sprinkles to put on their food each month. He says that the sprinkles smell like cheddar cheese, pizza, horse radish, raspberry, mocha.
Dr. Hirsh says the brain is tricked into thinking you're eating what's on your plate, and the food that the sprinkles smell like. This is because nerve cells in your nose sense smells. This triggers patterns of electrical activity in the brain that can affect appetite.
"You perceive you've eaten more than you have and thus you feel full faster and you eat less and lose weight," says Dr. Hirsh.
And even though the sprinkles change the smell-they do not actually change the taste. A preliminary study shows some promising results.
Dr. Hirsh says, "108 people over six months time lost a average of 34.7 pounds by sprinkling different flavors onto their food."
That's nearly 35 pounds each. While he thinks the study is promising, bariatric specialist Dr. Atul madon says he would like some more long-term information.
Dr. Atul Madan Director of Bariatric Programs, University of Tennessee, Memphis says, "What happens in five years? Once they stop the sprinkles, do they gain the weight back?"
Dr. Hirsch is looking for participants for a second, even larger study with thousands of participants across the country to try to answer these questions.