Our five sensory organs - the eyes, nose, tongue, ear and the skin (sense of touch) play an important role in living a healthy life. It is through these five senses that we perceive our surroundings and understand what is healthy and better for us. This holds especially true when it comes to food. Our sensory perceptions play an important role in our food preferences, right from choosing what to eat to how much to eat.So, how do the sense organs influence our eating habits?Eating should be a pleasurable and enjoyable activity in order to live a healthy life. Our senses communicate with the areas of the brain that are involved with emotions and memories. Contrary to the belief, all the five senses are equally involved when it comes to dietary choices. The colour, taste, aroma, the texture of the food and the sound it produces while we eat affect our dietary preferences. Any change in the food can affect our senses and our brain's ability to like a particular meal.Sometimes, we experience a loss of taste due to prolonged medication and affected taste buds. This may affect our food intake and we may tend to eat less than the usual. A well-presented and colourful meal appeals more to the eyes and catches our interest to eat it. Many times, people take a whiff of the food while it is being prepared to understand whether the dish is ready to be served. This also gives an idea of how the meal is likely to taste. The sound of the food that we chew also affects our dietary preferences. We tend to eat more of those foods which do not produce uncomfortable sounds and which are easy to chew.SightThere is a famous saying that 'we eat first with our eyes.' We start tasting the food the minute we see it. A prominent research study has shown that eating an ice-cream in large bowls and spoons caused people to eat more as compared to people who were eating in smaller bowls and spoons. The sight of the food helps to determine whether it has been properly cooked or not. It also helps to identify the size, shape, temperature and texture of the food.Adding vegetables like spinach, carrot, tomato and capsicum changes the appearance of the food and may also help improve its palatability..SmellAfter the sight, we consume our meals through the sense of smell. The aroma of the food helps in deciding our food intake. A hot and freshly-cooked meal gives an aromatic pleasure and stimulates our sense of smell. We tend to eat more when the food appeals to our sense of smell. Our brain interprets the aroma as some information about how the food is going to taste. There are two ways our sense of smell affects our food intake:. First, when we actually smell through the nose.. Secondly, the smell of the food once we eat it. Food that is burnt decreases our interest whereas roasted foods such as freshly prepared roti or paratha may increase the palatability of the food.TasteThe mouth is situated close to the brain. Taste is one of the main things that people think about when they take a bite of fruit or a sip of tea or coffee. The five basic tastes that can be identified when we eat something are:. Sweet - such as honey, sugar and sweets. Salty - such as table salt, salty wafers and salty biscuits. Sour - such as lime, lemons and grapes. Bitter - such as plain cocoa, bitter gourd (karela) and coffee beans. Savoury - such as soy sauce and parmesan cheeseThe sense of taste takes on a complex combination of other sensory perceptions. It leads to a chemical action in the body that affects the different areas of the brain. The factors affecting the sense of taste include heat, cold, pungency, tingling and burning..SoundEven the sound affects how we perceive our food. Whereas some fruits are hard andproduce a crunchy and crispy sound when crushed or cut. This is not the only way your sense of hearing affects our appetite. A research study in 2014 has found that outside noise may also have an impact on our appetite. Eating in a noisy environment can affect the perception of taste, aroma and texture of the food.TextureTouch is one of the easiest ways to feel the food that we eat. It can be felt with the fingers, tongue, teeth and palate. During childhood, the sense of touch and texture of the food develops slowly. Children develop the sense of texture and touch of food as they are fed soft food and later shifted to normal food. The sense of the texture of food is also known as 'mouth-feel'. One way to change the texture of the food is by adding spices like hot sauce, ginger, black pepper to the food. These ingredients tingle or warm the tongue and make the taste of food last longer on the palate..To concludeOur sense organs play an important role in what, when and how much do we eat. Using all five sensory perceptions while eating can make it an interesting and enriching experience rather than a routine. Understanding what is getting into the system through the sense organs makes us aware of our food and helps in making healthy dietary choices.Ms Gayatri Kashelkar is a Registered Clinical Dietician and Diabetic Educator.
Our five sensory organs - the eyes, nose, tongue, ear and the skin (sense of touch) play an important role in living a healthy life. It is through these five senses that we perceive our surroundings and understand what is healthy and better for us. This holds especially true when it comes to food. Our sensory perceptions play an important role in our food preferences, right from choosing what to eat to how much to eat.So, how do the sense organs influence our eating habits?Eating should be a pleasurable and enjoyable activity in order to live a healthy life. Our senses communicate with the areas of the brain that are involved with emotions and memories. Contrary to the belief, all the five senses are equally involved when it comes to dietary choices. The colour, taste, aroma, the texture of the food and the sound it produces while we eat affect our dietary preferences. Any change in the food can affect our senses and our brain's ability to like a particular meal.Sometimes, we experience a loss of taste due to prolonged medication and affected taste buds. This may affect our food intake and we may tend to eat less than the usual. A well-presented and colourful meal appeals more to the eyes and catches our interest to eat it. Many times, people take a whiff of the food while it is being prepared to understand whether the dish is ready to be served. This also gives an idea of how the meal is likely to taste. The sound of the food that we chew also affects our dietary preferences. We tend to eat more of those foods which do not produce uncomfortable sounds and which are easy to chew.SightThere is a famous saying that 'we eat first with our eyes.' We start tasting the food the minute we see it. A prominent research study has shown that eating an ice-cream in large bowls and spoons caused people to eat more as compared to people who were eating in smaller bowls and spoons. The sight of the food helps to determine whether it has been properly cooked or not. It also helps to identify the size, shape, temperature and texture of the food.Adding vegetables like spinach, carrot, tomato and capsicum changes the appearance of the food and may also help improve its palatability..SmellAfter the sight, we consume our meals through the sense of smell. The aroma of the food helps in deciding our food intake. A hot and freshly-cooked meal gives an aromatic pleasure and stimulates our sense of smell. We tend to eat more when the food appeals to our sense of smell. Our brain interprets the aroma as some information about how the food is going to taste. There are two ways our sense of smell affects our food intake:. First, when we actually smell through the nose.. Secondly, the smell of the food once we eat it. Food that is burnt decreases our interest whereas roasted foods such as freshly prepared roti or paratha may increase the palatability of the food.TasteThe mouth is situated close to the brain. Taste is one of the main things that people think about when they take a bite of fruit or a sip of tea or coffee. The five basic tastes that can be identified when we eat something are:. Sweet - such as honey, sugar and sweets. Salty - such as table salt, salty wafers and salty biscuits. Sour - such as lime, lemons and grapes. Bitter - such as plain cocoa, bitter gourd (karela) and coffee beans. Savoury - such as soy sauce and parmesan cheeseThe sense of taste takes on a complex combination of other sensory perceptions. It leads to a chemical action in the body that affects the different areas of the brain. The factors affecting the sense of taste include heat, cold, pungency, tingling and burning..SoundEven the sound affects how we perceive our food. Whereas some fruits are hard andproduce a crunchy and crispy sound when crushed or cut. This is not the only way your sense of hearing affects our appetite. A research study in 2014 has found that outside noise may also have an impact on our appetite. Eating in a noisy environment can affect the perception of taste, aroma and texture of the food.TextureTouch is one of the easiest ways to feel the food that we eat. It can be felt with the fingers, tongue, teeth and palate. During childhood, the sense of touch and texture of the food develops slowly. Children develop the sense of texture and touch of food as they are fed soft food and later shifted to normal food. The sense of the texture of food is also known as 'mouth-feel'. One way to change the texture of the food is by adding spices like hot sauce, ginger, black pepper to the food. These ingredients tingle or warm the tongue and make the taste of food last longer on the palate..To concludeOur sense organs play an important role in what, when and how much do we eat. Using all five sensory perceptions while eating can make it an interesting and enriching experience rather than a routine. Understanding what is getting into the system through the sense organs makes us aware of our food and helps in making healthy dietary choices.Ms Gayatri Kashelkar is a Registered Clinical Dietician and Diabetic Educator.
