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Completed

NCT Number: NCT03010930

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

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

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Key information

Conditions

Umami Taste Perception

Age range

18 year–60 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

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)

Treatment and study plan

Supplementation of diet with MSG

Other

Subjects eat normal diet and consume 8 ounces of vegetable broth with added MSG one time per day for 1 month

No supplementation of diet with MSG

Other

Subjects eat normal diet and consume 8 ounces of low glutamate vegetable broth without MSG (sodium-matched with NaCl) one time per day for 1 month

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in umami taste intensity perception

    Time frame: 1 month (at baseline and post intervention)

    Subjects rate the umami intensity of aqueous solutions and foods on the general Labeled Magnitude Scale before and after a month-long dietary supplementation to determine how perception changes with repeated exposure to umami taste

  2. Change in umami taste discrimination

    Time frame: 1 month (at baseline and post intervention)

    Subjects rank solutions of varying umami intensity before and after a month-long dietary supplementation to determine how perception changes with repeated exposure to umami taste

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in umami liking and preference

    Time frame: 1 month (at baseline and post intervention)

    Subjects rate liking and preference in a variety of umami-rich foods before and after a month-long dietary supplementation to determine how liking and preference of umami-rich foods changes with repeated exposure to umami taste

  2. Change in liking and wanting of high protein foods

    Time frame: 1 month (at baseline and post intervention)

    Subjects complete the Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire before and after a month-long dietary supplementation to determine how explicit liking and implicit wanting of high-protein foods changes with repeated exposure to umami taste

  3. Change in satiation

    Time frame: 1 month (at baseline and post intervention)

    Subjects consume a test meal and the amount of food eaten is measured before and after a month-long dietary supplementation to determine how satiation from a test meal differs after repeated exposure to umami taste

  4. Change in satiety

    Time frame: 1 month (at baseline and post intervention)

    Subjects consume a test meal and rate appetite sensations on a visual analog scale throughout the test meal before and after a month-long dietary supplementation. A satiety quotient will be derived from these values with the formula: Satiety Quotient = (rating pre-eating episode-rating post-eating episode) / (intake of eating episode) to determine how satiety changes with repeated exposure to umami taste

Other outcomes

  1. Height

    Time frame: 1 month (at baseline and post intervention)

    Body height (centimeters) will be measured with standard procedures and equipment. Using this information, BMI will be calculated with the formula: BMI=[kg/m]2 to ensure that BMI does not change with repeated exposure to umami taste

  2. Weight

    Time frame: 1 month (at baseline and post intervention)

    Body weight (kilograms) will be measured with standard procedures and equipment. Using this information, BMI will be calculated with the formula: BMI=[kg/m]2 to ensure that BMI does not change with repeated exposure to umami taste

  3. Habitual glutamate consumption

    Time frame: 1 month (at baseline and post intervention)

    Subjects complete the National Cancer Institute's monthly diet history questionnaire to estimate habitual glutamate consumption. Baseline habitual glutamate consumption, in addition to gender, will be assessed as effect modifiers in the analysis.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Cornell University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

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

Important dates

Study start
2016
Primary completion
2016
Study completion
2016
First posted
Jan 5, 2017
Registry last updated
Feb 7, 2022

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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