Smell Food, Feel Full
Reported January 04, 2010
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — A new generation of foods that make people feel full by releasing anti-hunger aromas during chewing is now a real possibility. Such foods would fight the global epidemic of obesity with aromas that quench hunger and prevent people from overeating.
Rianne Ruijschop and colleagues in the Netherlands note that scientists long have tried to develop tasty foods that trigger or boost the feeling of fullness. Until recently, that research focused on the food’s effects in stomach after people swallow it.
Researchers now have expanded their quest to include foods that release hunger-quenching aromas during chewing. Molecules that make up a food’s aroma apparently are able to activate areas of the brain that signal fullness. The researchers’ analysis found that aroma released during chewing does contribute to the feeling of fullness and possibly to consumers’ decisions to stop eating.
The report cites several possible developments, including foods which release more aroma during chewing or which develop aromas that have a more powerful effect in triggering feelings of fullness.
SOURCE: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, December 16, 2009