On Thu, 3 Dec 1998, Don Wiss wrote:

> Todd Moody wrote:
>
> >Our enjoyment of sweets and fats indicates, as you have argued,
> >that we are calorie-seeking organisms and,
>
> I think there is also some addictive element to it. I gave up sweets
> several decades ago. I do not find sweet things at all enjoyable. Chocolate
> is particularly unappealing.

Interesting.  Do you not enjoy fruits either?  A widely reported
side-effect of ketogenic diets is the episodic intense craving
for sweets, a craving distinct from any actual hunger feelings.

I agree that there may be an addictive component to spiraling
cravings for artificially intensified sweet tastes.  In
evolutionary terms, however, if sweet foods didn't have some
value for us it is unlikely that a substantial percentage of our
taste buds would be sweet-detectors.

I speculate that our sourness-detectors help us to find sources
of vitamin C.

Todd Moody
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