Texture of foods may impact how full people feel - Fisher Scientific

by Tania

The texture of food may impact how full a person feels after consumption, so adapting the consistency of low-calorie foods may help to target a lack of hunger satisfaction.

In order to see how accurately people could detect differences in the texture of food products, University of Sussex researchers added tara gum, a thickening agent, to yoghurt drinks. This substance is a natural additive which is mainly composed of polysaccharides.

Most participants were able to accurately identify texture differences ? even small increases to thickness and creaminess ? in the yoghurt drink. This shows that humans are sensitive to the consistency of foods and drinks they consume.

The experimenters then wanted to discover whether thicker drinks would be portrayed by people as more filling than those without the tara gum agent. They asked people to choose the portion size of pasta ? a carbohydrate-rich and therefore filling food ? which they feel would offer the equivalent hunger satisfaction as the yoghurt drink.

Results showed that people were more likely to choose larger pasta servings in association with thickened yoghurts, whereas they seemed to think those drinks with the thinner consistency would not combat hunger as effectively.

This has interesting implications for the development of healthier foods. Many people looking to lose weight will opt for low-calorie equivalents of regular meals which taste extremely similar. However, many people can find themselves still feeling hungry after consumption.

Some people suggest that this is due to cues that the brain sends to the stomach when people look at their meal. A person?s body may be expecting a calorific, high-fat dish, but is then greeted with a low-calorie version. This could then mean that the person does not feel as full as they usually would.

However, people?s expectation that thicker drinks will be more filling can be manipulated, so that those consuming healthier products will be less likely to turn to other calorific foods afterwards due to a lack of satisfaction. Food developers may therefore consider adding thickening agents to popular health milkshakes, yoghurt drinks or fruit smoothies to help combat the growing problem of obesity.

Source: http://www.fisher.co.uk/science-news/industry-news/texture-of-foods-may-impact-how-full-people-feel/

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