14 DAY TRIAL // Sensa Tastants are crystals that help in weight loss because they act as appetite suppressants by augmenting taste. After proving a hit in the US, they are now coming to the UK as well.
Sensa is not a new product, though its rate of success continues to be a very controversial topic with nutritionists and health experts, as we also noted on several previous occasions.
Studies have shown that, if combined with a healthy workout routine, the crystals can truly encourage weight loss but questions still linger about whether that’s not just the placebo effect kicking in.
According to the makers, the crystals act by enhancing taste, which signals the brain to send “I’m full” messages sooner than when they’re not sprinkled on food.
This way, not only does the slimmer feel fuller quicker, but they’re also more satisfied with their meal because there’s no craving and, most importantly, no fighting it, as the Daily Mail also points out.
“In scientific tests, obese participants who used the flavorless, Sensa Tastant crystals lost an average of two stones in six months. Others lost an average of just two pounds,” the Mail says of research conducted so far.
Public reception of the product has also been amazing, thus confirming the initial studies that, indeed, the crystals do work in terms of encouraging weight loss.
Developed by Dr. Alan Hirsch, the Sensa crystals are available in the US as of last year and will also be arriving across the pond at a yet unspecified date next year.
However, not everybody here is convinced that they’re the best way to tackle the extra pounds, whether they’re only a couple or more than a dozen.
“The principle of the idea makes sense. If you increase the intensity of a food taste or smell it makes more of an impact on feelings of satiety,” Dominic Dwyer, a neuropsychologist from Cardiff University, says for the Mail.
Yet not everything in theory adds up in real life. “A mouthwatering smell from food can simply make us eat more. This stuff would have to be very carefully used,” Dwyer adds.
Michel Roux Jr., chef at the Gavroche in London, agrees: “I understand some chefs saying the smell of food puts them off, but this diet wouldn’t work for me. The smell of the food just tells me I want to eat again. I keep my weight down by going running.”