Magnificent Man and his flying machine

Magnificent Man and his flying machine

Hard work 'improves' food's taste Study says it enhances our appreciation of something as uninspiring as low-fat items Washington: The harder we have to try to obtain something, the more we realise its worth. This applies even to food we normally find unappetising, a study showed. A Johns Hopkins University study suggested that hard work enhanced our appreciation for something as uninspiring as low-fat, low-calorie food. If we had to navigate an obstacle course to get to a plate of baby carrots, we may come to prefer those raw vegetables over the sweet chocolate bars or snacks, the Proceedings of the Royal Society B journal reported. "Basically, what we have shown is that if you have to expend more effort to get a certain food, not only will you value that food more, but it might even taste better," explained Alexander Johnson, who led the study. Johnson is an associate research scientist with the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins. "At present, we don't know why effort seems to boost the taste of food, but we know that it does, and this effect lasts for at least 24 hours after the act of working hard to get the food," said Johnson. People who struggle to maintain a healthy weight could be conditioned to consume lower calorie food, according to Johnson. Johnson teamed up on the project with Michela Gallagher, professor of psychological and brain sciences and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins.