Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/yjztmrDgqnc

If you love to eat and you want to enjoy the most flavorful food, take a seat!  If you must consume foul tasting medicine or somewhat bitter vegetables, you’d better stand.  A new study from the University of South Florida’s marketing department studied the ways in which our balance system and our posture during eating affects our perception of food taste.

The investigators distributed luscious bite-sized brownies to 350 participants.  The brownies tasted best to those who ate them while sitting.  The researchers also asked the study subjects to try an over-salted brownie, and those who stood while eating it failed to notice the additional salt and the unpleasant taste.  Food that was too hot or too cold was also more annoying to those sitting versus standing, and overheated coffee was more palatable to those on their feet.

The study also dispelled an urban myth that you never pay attention to your food consumption if you eat standing..  Those subjects who ate while standing actually consumed less food.

You gourmets dining on quality food should do so sitting.  Kids who reject all healthy greens could maybe be fed those foods while standing and they might just eat more of them.

Dipayan Biswas, Courtney Szocs, Annika Abell. Extending the Boundaries of Sensory Marketing and Examining the Sixth Sensory System: Effects of Vestibular Sensations for Sitting versus Standing Postures on Food Taste Perception. Journal of Consumer Research, 2019; DOI: 10.1093/jcr/ucz018

#sitting #standing #eating