Repeated Exposure to Umami Taste on Taste Perception, Hedonics, and Satiety

Does Repeated Dietary Exposure to Umami Taste Affect Umami Perception, Hedonics, or Satiety? A Randomized Controlled Study

The purpose of this study is to determine how repeated dietary exposure to umami taste affects umami taste perception, hedonics, food preferences, and satiety. Healthy adult subjects will consume a low glutamate vegetable broth daily for one month, where the experimental group's broth is supplemented with the umami-rich stimuli of monosodium glutamate (MSG) and the control group's low glutamate broth is matched for sodium (NaCl).

The investigators hypothesize that repeated dietary exposure to umami taste will:

1. diminish umami suprathreshold intensity perception and hinder the ability to discriminate varying MSG concentrations
2. decrease liking of umami-rich foods and shift preferences upwards towards more intense umami stimuli
3. decrease satiation and decrease the satiating effect of a test meal

Inclusion Criteria:

• Have normal sense of taste and smell (self-report)
• Likes soups or broths (self-report)
• Able to report to study site daily (self-report)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Restrained eater (score > 12 on restrained eating subscale from Three Factor Eating Questionnaire)
• BMI < 18 or > 25 kg/m2 (self-report)
• Vegan (self-report)
• Hypertensive or on low-sodium diet (self-report)
• Allergic or sensitive to MSG (self-report)