By Holly Rogers

Strongly scented foods encourage people to take smaller bites, a method commonly thought to help dieters with portion control, say researchers from Wageningen University, Netherlands.

Participants in the study were given control of how much custard they were served by pushing a button, as they were repeatedly exposed to different scents. The study showed that people would eat as much as 10% less pudding when they were presented with stronger or more unfamiliar smells.

“Bite size was associated with the aroma presented for that bite, and also for subsequent bites (especially the second to last bite),” said Dr Rene A de Wijk, project leader.

Generally, people will take smaller bites if a food is unfamiliar or unpleasant, to keep the amount of flavour they are exposed to as small as possible.

“Perhaps [...] there is an unconscious feedback loop using bite size to regulate the amount of flavour experienced,” said Dr de Wijk.

Previous research has shown the brain associates smaller bites with food that needs to be chewed more thoroughly, and can reduce how much is eaten in a single meal.

Understanding how altering the smell of food could fool the brain into believing the stomach is full would be a bonus for those trying to reduce their fat intake. Combined with healthy eating, it could even be worked into a plausible diet plan.

The team’s research has been published in the newly launched, open access journal, Flavour.

Reference

R. A. De Wijk, I. A. Polet, W. Boek, S. Conraad and J. H. F. Bult, Food aroma affects bite size, Flavour  (in press)

You can download the article from here: http://www.flavourjournal.com/content/1/1/3