THE IMPACT OF TASTE PREFERENCES ON MACRONUTRIENT INTAKE

• Published in: Annals of nutrition and metabolism 2017-10, Vol.71 (Suppl. 2), p.1134
• Main Authors: Dikmen, Derya, Inan-Eroglu, Elif, Ozdemir, Aslihan, Madali, Berna, Ellahi, Basma
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adults; Anthropometry; Bitter taste; Carbohydrates; Demographics; Diet; Dietitians; Energy intake; Food; Food preferences; Nutrients; Nutrition; Pharynx; Proteins; Salty taste; Sociodemographics; Sweet taste; Taste; Taste preferences; Umami
• ISSN: 0250-6807; 1421-9697
• DOI: 10.1159/000480486

Background and objectives: Recent evidence has suggested that there are multiple links between taste preferences and food choices and the amount of food consumed. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether there is an impact of taste preference on macronutrient consumption in healthy adults. Methods: This study compromised 46 adults aged between 18-40. Socio-demographic characteristics and anthropometric measurements of the individuals were taken by dietitians. Participants' 24 hour food recall was also taken for determining the nutrient intakes by specialized dietitians. The results were evaluated by the statistical program SPSS. Results: The great majority of participants reported that they like sweet taste (93.5%). Participants 69.6 % like soury taste and 60.9 % salt taste. Because umami taste is a new taste for consumers, it was found that 50.0% of the participants did not have an idea about the taste of umami and 28.3% disliked it. The mean energy intake of the participants was 2038.4 ± 678.34 kkal. According to the participants' 24-hour food recalls, the average percentage of energy from carbohydrate, fat and protein intake were 47.9 ± 9.31%, 37.2 ± 8.66% and 14.9 ± 3.50% respectively. The fat intake of the participants who like sweet taste (37.%) was higher than non-likers of the sweet taste (26.3%) (p=0.02). Also participants who like bitter taste fat intake were higher than non-likers of bitter taste (p>0.05). Fat intake levels were lower who likes mostly soury and salty taste when compared to sweet and bitter taste likers. Daily protein intake of the salty (p>0.05) and soury taste (p0.05). Conclusions: There was a relation between fat, protein intake of the participants with taste preferences. There are evidence on oral and pharyngeal recognition of the nutrients is proposed as a mechanism for regulating nutrient intake. Further experimental studies need to investigate the taste preference and its affect on nutrient intake.