Want a healthier diet that still tastes great? Go bigger on spices and herbs. 

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Research shows it’s possible to maintain flavor without the excess of saturated fat, sugar and salt. 

If you want people to eat more healthy food, it still has to taste good. Now, investigators from Pennsylvania State University say they have discovered a way to remove some saturated fat, sugar and salt from popular American foods while still making them desirable to eat. How? By replacing these less healthy ingredients with more beneficial herbs and spices. As reported in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, researchers evaluated preferences for 10 of the most popular foods eaten by Americans that are typically very high in sodium, added sugars and saturated fat, such as meatloaf, chicken pot pie, macaroni and cheese, and brownies. When these foods were overhauled to contain less saturated fat, sugar, and/or salt, and higher amounts of added herbs and spices like rosemary, paprika, cumin and cinnamon, it restored the overall liking to the level of the original food in seven of the 10 recipes, including apple pie and taco meat. Study participants preferred some of the flavor-enhanced recipes compared to the originals. People said they liked the original recipes for three dishes (cheese pizza, mac and cheese, and chicken pot pie) over the healthier, flavor-enhanced versions. These findings could be used by packaged food manufactures to increase the healthfulness of their products without impacting consumer desirability for them as well as by home cooks when preparing meals that are healthier yet just as tasty. 

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