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2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44
They can ruin even gourmet dishes or, conversely, turn a simple snack into a feast.
1. Color
The color of food and drinks, as well as the dishes in which they are served, significantly affect our perception of taste. In one experiment, The Effect of Glass Color on the Evaluation of a Beverage’s Thirst-Quenching Quality, conducted by experts from Nara University in Japan, thirsty participants were asked to drink soda from colored glasses. And those who drank from the blue, admitted that the soda in them is cooler and much better at quenching their thirst than in the reds and oranges.
The soda in all the glasses was the same. But the blue associated with Color-Temperature Correspondences: When Reactions to Thermal Stimuli Are Influenced by Color with cold made the drink feel more refreshing.
Research on Color Enhances Taste by scientists from the University of British Columbia and Oxford University also confirms the effect of color on taste. For example, they found that drinks in pink jars tasted sweeter than in other jars. Strawberry mousse is sweeter on a white plate than on a black one. Coffee in brown packaging is associated with a stronger taste and aroma. And bright dishes seem to us tastier on the psychological impact of food color.
2. Crockery and cutlery
The material from which the dishes are made can also change the taste of the dish. For example, spoons made from copper or zinc increase the apparent strength of the food's taste - saltiness, sweetness, or bitterness, according to Tasting spoons: Assessing how the material of a spoon affects the taste of the food psychiatrists at King's College London. Researchers believe this effect may help people eat less salt, which is not known to be very beneficial in large amounts.
Food also seems more salty if it is eaten not with a fork or spoon, but with a knife. Scientists from the University of Oxford and the University of Montreal came to this conclusion The taste of cutlery: How the taste of food is affected by the weight, size, shape, and color of the cutlery used to eat it. They also learned that eating yogurt with a light plastic spoon makes it appear thicker. And if the spoon is heavy and large, it will increase the perceived sweetness.
Another study on Cutlery matters: heavy cutlery enhances diners' enjoyment of the food served in a realistic dining environment has shown that people who eat with heavy cutlery enjoy more food.
3. Temperature
Everyone knows that the same dish can differ in its taste depending on whether it is warmed up or not. Cold meat tastes saltier but still tastes good. Chilled soup is unpleasant to eat. Warm beer is terrible: it tastes very bitter, but coffee and chocolate, on the contrary, are best consumed hot.
This is because temperature affects our taste buds. Its increase leads to Heat activation of TRPM5 underlies thermal sensitivity of sweet taste to an increase in the sensitivity of receptors that perceive sweetness, therefore, for example, melted ice cream becomes sweeter.
Cooling the oral cavity causes Thermal stimulation of taste, Temperature Affects Human Sweet Taste via At Least Two Mechanisms, an increased susceptibility to salty and sour tastes.
In this regard, scientists from the University of Arkansas made an interesting observation Temperature of served water can modulate sensory perception and acceptance of food. According to them, most Americans prefer iced water, while Europeans and Asians choose room temperature drinks or hot tea. Because of this, Americans' perception of sweetness is dulled. And to compensate, they eat sweeter foods.
Takeaway: If you're on a diet and trying to stay away from all those cakes and pastries, don't drink too many cold drinks.
4. Smells
Much of the information about food you get through not only taste, but also the sense of smell, which is associated with taste buds Smelling with your tongue, Odor / taste integration and the perception of flavor.
When you chew, you pass air through your nasal passages and smell the food in your mouth. And without this interaction, you cannot taste complex tastes. You will be limited to only five taste sensations perceived by the tongue: salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and umami (the taste created by MSG).
Tom Finger Professor at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine
Remember how you feel when you eat after catching a cold, with a stuffy nose. Or pinch your nostrils and try to chew on something. The taste will change completely and become much poorer.
5. Environment
Assessing the influence of the multisensory environment on the whiskey drinking experience influences not only the smell of the food itself, but also the place where you eat. That is why eating in nature even simple food is more pleasant than gourmet in the city. And those who spend a long time in a place saturated with odors (for example, pastry chefs) develop temporary bridging - an inability to evaluate tastes.
Humidity and air pressure also affect our sense of taste. For example, the dry atmosphere and low pressure in flying planes affect mucous membranes and reduce the Why does food taste different on planes? people's sensitivity to tastes and smells. Therefore, the food from the airlines seems especially nasty.
By the way, if you are flying by plane - try to drink tomato juice. The constant engine noise heard in the passenger compartment reduces susceptibility to sweets, but at the same time increases How noise affects the palate: When flying, taste buds prefer savory tomato umami taste. As a result, foods rich in monosodium glutamate (such as tomato juice, parmesan cheese, and asparagus) taste better.
6. Body position
Posture impacts how you perceive your food scientists from the University of South Florida, published in Consumer Research, found that posture and posture influence the perception of taste. When you experience discomfort and eat in an uncomfortable position or while standing, sensory sensitivity decreases and the food becomes less tasty.
Seated people, on the other hand, can fully appreciate the taste of the dish. So eat at the table, not on the run.
At the same time, for example, it is easier to absorb unpalatable food while standing, since you will pay less attention to its shortcomings. The posture also affects the perception of temperature: standing people feel coffee less hot than those who are sitting.
In addition, those who eat standing up consume less food and show decreased appetite. Therefore, the author of the study Extending the Boundaries of Sensory Marketing and Examining the Sixth Sensory System: Effects of Vestibular Sensations for Sitting versus Standing Postures on Food Taste Perception, Dr. Deepayan Biswas, advised those who are losing weight to eat while staying on their feet. At the same time, you will get extra physical activity.
7. Price
The more expensive the food, the tastier it is. Scientists at the University of Bonn conducted the following experiment Why expensive wine appears to taste better: It’s the price tag: they gave the same chocolate and wine to the subjects, but in some cases convinced the test subjects that the products they offered were especially expensive.
As a result, those who thought their wine was elite enjoyed more - brain activity measurements on an MRI scanner demonstrated this.
The reward and motivational systems in the brain work harder at the mention of the high price of the product, and thus the sense of taste is obviously enhanced.
Bernd Weber Acting Director of the Center for Economics and Neuroscience
So if you are hosting guests, serve them a completely ordinary wine without labels and reassure them that it is expensive. Research shows When Does the Price Affect the Taste? Results from a Wine Experiment that after that the drink will be perceived better.
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