Wednesday 21 March 2012

The size of your nose affects how much you eat

It's known that the stronger the smell of food, the less you tend to eat, this could mean that our nose size affects the bite size, and consequently how much we eat which potentially defines our weight.

Dutch scientists reported in the journal Flavour how aromas from food affect how much we eat.

Bite size is not a defined variable. It varies between people and even between the food you eat. 

Many things affect bite size, for example..
  • viscosity 
  • reputation of the food
  • how full you are
  • even the mood of the person

The denser the food, the harder it is to break it down, therefore you naturally take smaller bites. But even as you enjoy your dinner, as you eat more, you become more full and subsequently take smaller bites during the length of your meal.

Rene A de Wijk, a Dutch scientist and his team carried out an experiment on 10 volunteers. 

He got 10 volunteers between the ages of 26-50 to eat vanilla custard (I bet you want to volunteer right?) to experiment aroma vs bite size.

The taste of the custard did not change, but the intensity of the smell did. 

There were 3 types of aromas of the same tasting custard
  • No aroma
  • Weak 
  • Strong
Results showed that there was a strong link between the smell and bite size. The stronger the aroma, the smaller the bite size.

One interesting observation was that the second to last bite was always smaller. 

This study could play important roles in weight loss. Perhaps if you're trying to cut the pounds, try adding strong aromas to your food.

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