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The summer is often filled with outdoor parties and food trucks, which means you spend more time standing and eating. But if you really want to eat, researchers say you'd better sit down.
A new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research find that posture has an impact on the perception of taste, and that food tastes better when you sit. The lead author, Dipayan Biswas, PhD, professor of marketing at the University of South Florida, is an expert in intermodal effects. He examined in particular how the vestibular sense, responsible for balance, posture and spatial orientation, interacts with the sensory taste system. system, which influences the taste and flavor.
He realized that standing for a few minutes could only cause physical stress and loss of taste buds. The force of gravity pushes the blood towards the lower parts of the body, forcing the heart to work harder to raise the blood to the upper body, thus accelerating the heart rate. This activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and leads to increased concentrations of cortisol, a stress hormone. This chain reaction reduces sensory sensitivity, which affects the taste badessment of foods and beverages, the perception of food temperature and the overall volume of consumption.
When people feel discomfort, foods that normally taste good do not seem so palatable. Biswas confirmed his hypothesis by asking 350 participants to rate the taste of a pita chip. Those who stood up gave him a less favorable rating than those who sat on a padded chair.
The researchers then provided participants with clbadic brownies cooked in a local restaurant that were tested and considered to have a pleasant taste. Those who sat judged them the most delicious. However, when the baker changed the recipe and made the taste uncomfortable by adding ¼ cup more salt, the results were reversed. Participants who stood up did not notice that brownies had a saltier taste at this point and attributed them a relatively more favorable taste perception than those who sampled them sitting.
This finding suggests that parents could make healthy, unpleasant food seem more acceptable to reluctant children by making them eat upright (as opposed to sitting). In the same vein, it may be beneficial to maintain a standing position when consuming pharmaceuticals with an unpleasant taste. "
Lead Author Dipayan Biswas, PhD, Professor of Marketing at the University of South Florida
Biswas has expanded the study by inducing additional stress. He asked participants to try fruit snacks while carrying a shopping bag, mimicking what happens when trying samples in a grocery store or in a food court. The participants sitting and standing both reported that the extra weight made the taste of the food even worse. This highlights the underlying mechanism of physical stress leading to the effects of posture on taste badessments.
In addition, the team tested the impact of posture on the perception of temperature. Participants received cups of hot coffee. Those who got up reported that it was not as intense as those who were sitting. However, they drank less than those sitting, suggesting that physical stress suppresses appetite. Eating upright can also help achieve long-term weight loss goals. Specifically, eating standing (vs. sitting) reduces consumption. In addition, a standing position causes greater physical stress, forcing the heart to pump more blood.
Source:
University of South Florida (USF Innovation)
Journal reference:
Biswas, D. et al. (2019) Extend the limits of sensory marketing and examine the sixth sensory system: effects of vestibular sensations for sitting or standing positions on the perception of food taste. Journal of Consumer Research. doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucz018.
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