Effects of olfactory and gustatory perception on individual food choices and macronutrient intake

Individual dietary choices play a crucial role in shaping nutrition-related health outcomes, making it a focal point of ongoing research in sensory nutrition (Forde et al., 2015). Chemosensory function is often considered a key influencer of dietary choices and intake. However, empirical investigations into these sensory-diet links have yielded divergent results (McCrickerd & Forde, 2016; Abeywickrema et al., 2022; Ginieis et al., 2022). We thereby summarised recent findings from our lab, aimed at unravelling chemosensory connections to individual dietary choices and intake, incorporating data from four experiments. Employing robust psychophysical methods (i.e., signal detection theory), we systematically addressed critical questions: [1] the impact of olfactory and gustatory supra-threshold sensitivities on daily energy intake; [2] the relationships between individual chemosensory perception and dietary macronutrient composition; [3] the sensory drivers influencing food choices based on taste quality profiling. Our results indicate that individual olfactory and gustatory sensitivities contribute significantly to food choices (Abeywickrema et al., 2022), with only gustatory sensitivities directly linked to macronutrient intakes (Abeywickrema et al., 2023). Furthermore, profiling food choices based on taste qualities, rather than energy or nutrients, provides novel insights into the potential mechanism underpinning sensory influences on dietary behaviors. Our presentation offers compelling new evidence for the distinct roles of olfactory and gustatory senses in shaping individual food choices.