Proserpio, C., de Graaf, C., Laureati, M., Pagliarini, E., & Boesveldt, S. (2017). Impact of ambient odors on food intake, saliva production and appetite ratings. Physiology & behavior, 174, 35-41.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.02.042
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ambient odor exposure on appetite, salivation and foodintake. 32 normal-weight young women (age: 21.4 ± 5.3 year; BMI: 21.7 ± 1.9 kg/m2) attended five test sessionsin a non-satiated state. Each participant was exposed to ambient odors (chocolate, beef, melon and cucumber), ina detectable but mild concentration, and to a control condition (no-odor exposure).
During each condition, at dif-ferent time points, participants rated appetite for 15 food products, and saliva was collected. After approximately 30 min, ad libitum intake was measured providing a food (chocolate rice, high-energy dense product) that wascongruent with one of the odors they were exposed to.
A significant odor effect on food intake (p = 0.034)and salivation (p = 0.017) was found. Exposure to odors signaling high-energy dense products increased foodintake (243.97 ± 22.84 g) compared to control condition (206.94 ± 24.93 g; p = 0.03). Consistently, salivationwas increased significantly during chocolate and beef exposure (mean: 0.494 ± 0.050 g) compared to controlcondition (0.417 ± 0.05 g; p = 0.006). Even though odor exposure did not induce specific appetite for congruentproducts (p = 0.634), appetite scores were significantly higher during odor exposure (p b 0.0001) compared tothe no-odor control condition and increased significantly over time (p = 0.010).
Exposure to food odors seems todrive behavioral and physiological responses involved in eating behavior, specifically for odors and foods that arehigh in energy den sity. This could have implications for steering food intake and ultimately influencing thenutritional status of people.
Keywords: Olfactory cues; Appetite; Food intake; Energy density; Salivary response; Eating behavior
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