Effects of dietary habits, stress, and drive for thinness on taste sensitivity in young Japanese women

Nakashima Nana, Matsuda Shiho, Kawakami Ikuyo, Matsuzoe Naotaka, Kitano Naoko

doi:10.11274/bimi.19.1_37

We considered the five basic tastes of young Japanese women (n=163, mean age 19.9 years, range 18–23 yrs) to clarify the relationships between the five tastes and the subjects' desire to be thin, stress level, food intake status, and dietary habits. These factors were evaluated by the whole-mouth method and self-report questionnaires. The results and questionnaire responses revealed that "Enjoying meals" significantly made "Umami sensitivity" higher, and "Eating tasty" similarly did "Bitterness sensitivity." Enjoying meals facilitates tasting meals, in which digestion, absorption, and adjustment of metabolism acts properly well, so it seems that sensitivities of Umami and Bitterness are maintained. Our findings also showed that the group of respondents who scored higher (divided by the cut-offs we used for "Stress" and "Desire to be thin") had significantly higher values of "Sweet sensitivity." We also have a trend for people who either are under higher stress, or desire to lose weight. It implies that they have higher sensitivity of Sweetness. We think that they would want sugar component in order to adapt against the stressor, and so that their attitude to Sweetness maybe gets positively.

Effects of dietary habits, stress, and drive for thinness on taste sensitivity in young Japanese women

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