INCORPORATING complex smells into what you eat may produce more satisfying foods.
That鈥檚 the conclusion of at Nizo Food Research in Ede, the Netherlands, and colleagues, who were investigating what effect different aromas have on the feeling of fullness.
The team added two different strawberry aromas to small pots of yoghurt and asked volunteers which was the most filling. Although to the untrained nose the smells were indistinguishable, one pot contained a simple aroma from one chemical, and the other a more complex aroma made up of 15 chemicals.
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All 41 volunteers reported feeling more satiated after eating the yoghurt with the complex aroma. However, in a separate experiment, Ruijschop found that given a much larger supply, volunteers ate the same amount of both yoghurts (Chemical Senses, ).
, a clinical psychologist at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, says this is not surprising since we don鈥檛 necessarily stop eating when we feel satiated.
Ruijschop admits that aroma is only one contributing component and hopes next to alter the texture of the yoghurt, with the aim of developing more satiating foods to help dieters eat less.
