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A team of Penn State researchers discovered a method to reduce the amounts of saturated fat, sugar and salt in popular American dishes without compromising taste. Apparently the trick is to replace overconsumed ingredients with a dose of healthy herbs and spices.
With this they could decrease the ingredients in popular American foods without sacrificing flavor, replacing these elements with herbs and spices. Blind taste tests confirmed that the participants preferred or found the modified dishes equally enjoyable as the original recipes.
The study states that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, and limiting the intake of saturated fat and sodium are key recommendations to reduce the risk of developing this disease.
However, Kristina Petersen, associate professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State explained that one of the key barriers to reducing the intake of these ingredients is the taste of the food. “If you want people to eat healthy food, it has to taste good. This is why our finding that participants actually preferred some of the recipes in which much of the saturated fat and salt was replaced with herbs and spices is so important,” he said.
The team used a nationally representative database from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), called the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
There they identified 10 of the most popular foods that tend to be high in sodium, added sugar and saturated fat that they included meatloaf, chicken pot pie, mac and cheese, and brownies.
Participants preferred the modified recipes to the original ones
They then worked with culinary experts to develop three versions of these recipes. The first contained typical amounts of saturated fat, sugar, and salt used in these recipes. The second version was nutritionally improved by removing excess saturated fat, sugar, and salt.
The third version had the same nutrient profile as the second version, but also contained added herbs and spices, such as garlic powder, ground mustard seeds, cayenne, cumin, rosemary, thyme, cinnamon, and vanilla extract.
For example, the typical macaroni and cheese recipe included salted butter, 2% milk, American cheese, and salt. For the nutritionally enhanced version, the researchers:
- They swapped the salted butter for unsalted butter and reduced the amount in the recipe by 75%.
- They swapped out 2% milk for skim milk, replaced some of the American cheese with low-fat cheese, and cut out the extra salt.
- They added onion powder, garlic powder, ground mustard seeds, paprika, and cayenne.
“Our goal was to see how much we could reduce these overconsumed ingredients without affecting the overall properties of the food in terms of mouthfeel and structure, and then add herbs and spices to improve flavor,” Petersen said.
They point out that they discovered that adding herbs and spices restored the overall taste to the level of the original food in seven of the ten recipes of the experiment. Specifically, participants liked the healthier, more flavorful versions of the brownies and chicken in cream sauce much better than the original recipes.
For five of the dishes (meatloaf, chili, apple pie, pasta with meat sauce, and taco meat), participants liked the healthier, tastier versions about the same as the original versions. They liked the healthier, flavor-enhanced recipes for cheese pizza, macaroni and cheese, and chicken pot pie less than the original versions.
The results were recently published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
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