Diet Community

If I'm to understand this, correctly, you're explaining how we can enjoy our desserts, more (not less)?

Thanks for the tip!...I think...

Brunosbud- Yes, I guess you are right I am explaining how to enjoy desserts more. However, I've found that when I do sprinkle the salt on my dessert I am MORE satisfied by smaller amounts and end up eating less. It may sound a little odd, I was a skeptic when I first heard this tip, but I tried it, and it works! I found that tip and a bunch of other quirky weight-loss tips in this article http://www.ivillage.com/52-little-changes-big-weight-loss-results/4-b-394731#394786.

I was only kidding, jill. Actually, around the world, many countries offer the sweet-salty combination you speak of in their desserts...French European, Middle Eastern, Asian countries (China and Thailand) all use quite a bit of salt in/on their desserts. I stopped eating ice cream a while back, but one of my favorite desserts was cheddar cheese ice cream...its incredible...

Hi Jill and thanks so much for your posting. I'm laughing out loud because your story actually sent me down memory lane to a salted dessert with a different outcome. Years ago, I had been invited to speak at an event where the actress Sharon Stone was appearing. She invited me to dinner with her entourage and as I sat next to her, I observed her eating habits. This is a woman who has been blessed by good looks and has found creative ways to maintain them despite the typical challenges of aging. That night, she ordered and ate about 70% of her chicken and veggies. Then around came the dessert menu. Instead of passing it up, she grabbed it and knew there were two items that were wonderful and unique to this restaurant. She ordered both. I watched in fascination as she lined up both in front of her and then, one after the other, took a forkful of each high ticket calorie item and slowly savored. I mean it took her a minute or two as she rolled the food around in her mouth, closing her eyes and going off to "I'm loving this" land. What came next was the prize. After having finished her two forkfuls, she anxiously looked around for the waiter (who'd been instructed by her assistant to immediately whip the remaining desserts away once she had had one forkful of each). With no waiter in site, she went to Plan B. Grabbing the salt shaker, she poured a mountain of the white stuff on each dessert. Satisfied, she pushed them away and calmly went onto her conversation at the table.

Fascinated, i asked her about what had happened. Her answer was simple. She noted that she travels all over the world and wants to enjoy unique treats as she goes along. She also knows she'll overeat if the dessert is left in front of her. So she devised a plan to make certain the reward associated with the treat was destroyed by salt or just plain taken out of sight by the waiter. It's worked for her for years.

Jill, I think many people would not find a sweet-turned-salty as rewarding as sweet alone. I'm thrilled to see that this seems to work for you. Everyone's taste buds are unique to them and if this works to decrease the portion size then more power to you. Just don't overdo the salt either, which we need to watch as we age.

As far as healthy but not so tasty desserts, you don't have to be condemned to a life of bland desserts. Instead, check out the healthy fare at WebMD's Food and Fitness Planner as well as my new book The Hunger Fix. There are wonderful and simple ways to add delicious food enjoyment to healthier treats. Give it a try.

Good luck!

Dr. Peeke

Salted dessert is all the rage these days -- particularly when it comes to chocolate and caramels. Remember salting watermelon to improve its sweetness? The same thing applies to chocolate. It tastes wonderful if done right but it's certainly not very healthy. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Salted-Chocolate-Caramels-236701

If you really want to give your tastebuds some freebased tastes, fry-up a piece of salty bacon (or two), and just as you move them from the frying pan, press them into a Hershey Bar. The hot/greasy bacon will "burn" into the chocolate bare creating a magnificent tasting "snack."