Ambient Odor Exposure Affects Food Intake and Sensory Specific Appetite in Obese Women

Abstract

Food odors are important in food perception not only during consumption, but also in anticipation of food. Even though it is well established that smell is involved in eating behavior, its role in affecting actual food consumption is still unclear, especially in morbidly obese subjects, who are reported to be more affected by sensory cues than lean subjects. The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of ambient odor exposure on ad libitum food intake and on sensory specific appetite in obese women. Thirty obese women (BMI: 34.9 ± 0.8 kg m-2; age: 50.8 ± 1.8) attended two sessions in which they were exposed to a bread odor dispersed, in a detectable but mild concentration, in the test room (“scented” condition) and to a control condition (“unscented” condition). Participants filled out a questionnaire on general appetite before entering the test room and completed a sensory specific appetite questionnaire (including 12 specific products) about 10 min after entering the test room. After approximately 15 min of exposure, the ad libitum intake of a low energy dense food product (vegetable soup) was measured. The “scented” condition significantly (p < 0.01) increased the amount of soup eaten compared to the “unscented” condition (466.4 ± 33.1 g; 368.9 ± 33.2 g, respectively). Moreover, the odor exposure induced sensory specific appetite for congruent food products in term of taste and energy density, as well as a significant increase in general appetite scores (p < 0.001). In conclusion, ambient odor exposure to a food odor affected the intake of a low energy food in obese women and stimulated appetite for congruent products. This could have important implications for influencing energy intake of individuals.

Insulin Resistance Is Associated with Reduced Food Odor Sensitivity across a Wide Range of Body Weights

“…Importantly, the sense of smell plays a crucial role in eating behavior and influences food choice and meal size [6,7]. Individuals with obesity more than those of normal weight are susceptible to external food cues such as food pictures [8][9][10][11] but also food smells [12]. Moreover, individuals with obesity perceive food odors as more pleasant than people of normal weight [13], while being surprisingly less sensitive to odors [14,15].…”

Olfactory Cues of Restaurant Wait Staff Modulate Patrons’ Dining Experiences and Behavior

“…The odor-enhanced appetite for congruent food items was also found in other studies [23], although the effect has not been consistently observed [25]. Exposure to congruent ambient scents was also found to increase consumers' satiety, i.e., their feeling of fullness ([26], also see [27]), and modulate food intake [24,25]. In addition, when both orthonasal and retronasal pathways were activated by matching scents, the amount of food items consumed was found to diminish [17,21,28].…”

“…For example, a lavender scent tended to lead patrons to spend more time and money at the restaurant, probably because of a relaxing or sedative effect of this scent [16]. Sensory and/or behavioral studies conducted in laboratory settings have also elucidated that exposure to ambient scents congruent with food items can affect perceptual, behavioral, and/or physiological (e.g., salivation) responses to food items [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. For example, Ramaekers et al [21] demonstrated that food odors (e.g., bread or chocolate) increased consumers' appetite and directed their choices toward congruent food items.…”

Lost in Translation? On the Need for Convergence in Animal and Human Studies on the Role of Dopamine in Diet-Induced Obesity

“…As such, dopamine can affect higher-order processing of sensory input, such as hedonic value of, and cue reactivity to visual, gustatory and olfactory input. It has been shown that obese compared to normal-weight individuals perceive food odours as more pleasant [152] and have a higher food cue reactivity in response to food pictures [155] and odours [44]. There is solid evidence that increased physiological (e.g.…”