Physical & chemical characteristics of food & satiety: solid or liquid?
Sensory attributes of foods and beverages play an important role in eating behavior. For example, the physical form of a food can alter the sensation of fullness and satiety. Overall, study results consistently demonstrate that texture and viscosity affect different aspects of feeding behaviour, for example, ratings of hunger and fullness.
Solid or liquid?
The food texture experienced at the start of a meal or eating occasion may predict the duration of the sensory exposure to the food and, therefore, its expected satiating capacity. Think for a minute about your perception of how full you’re going to feel if you lower your spoon into a deliciously thick and creamy pot of yogurt with fruit chunks, compared to a thinner or lighter yogurt. Hogenkamp et al (13) put this to the test. In a study with yogurts and custards of different thickness and flavours, subjects consistently expected the thicker dairy foods to be more satiating. Flavour or means of consumption (via a straw or spoon) had no influence on expected satiation. Women tend to be lured into quick and easy solutions to weight management…now here’s an angle on how texture appears to affect women in particular: McCrickerd et al (14) found that increasing the perceived thickness of a drink (via increased viscosity) resulted in less consumption of the drink in female participants only. Does this suggest that women will select smaller portions when sensory characteristics such as thickness or flavour make them believe it will be more satiating? Could this have implications for regulating consumption and hence body weight?
The texture and food structure as well as the type of milk protein in a food can affect gastric emptying, digestion and absorption of nutrients, gastrointestinal hormone release, and appetite. A firmer food structure has been shown to enhance satiety and attenuate postprandial metabolic responses of foods containing different dairy foods (15).
In general, semi-solid and solid foods appear to be more satiating than liquid foods. Despite these consistent findings, there is a lack of data on whether the increased satiety observed when more viscous and thicker foods are consumed leads to differences in food intake over time. Research currently available suggests that subsequent food intake is not affected.
