214: The Science of Sweetness – Dr. Kees de Graaf & Dr. Colin Rehm

The topic of sweet taste and the relationship to diet and health is one that has been of interest to food and nutrition scientists for many years. To assist in reducing sugar consumption, some authoritative bodies currently recommend reducing the consumption of sweet-tasting foods and beverages, regardless of the source of the sweet taste (i.e., caloric or low-calorie sweeteners). These recommendations stem from concerns that human attraction to sweetness may be a potential risk for developing less healthy eating patterns. Despite the need to measure sweetness of the diet to help us further understand the relationship between nutrition and health and sweetness, currently there is no consensus method to measure the total sweetness of the diet. There are well-established sensory techniques in laboratory settings for individual foods, but agreement on the optimal approach for measuring the sweetness of the total diet is lacking, particularly for large-scale population-based studies. Recently a practical approach for estimating sweetness of the diet was built onto a sweet taste database to evaluate trends in the sweetness of the diet in U.S. children and adults. This method can also be used to better understand the impact of dietary sweetness on diet quality and health outcomes. Tune in to this episode to learn about: Psychobiological determinants of eating behavior How sweetness is defined How sweetness can be measured Why it's important to study sweetness and understand its implications Trends in the overall sweetness of the U.S. diet The contribution of low-calorie sweeteners to the sweetness of the diet Implications of recent research conducted on sweetness Future research on sweetness Full shownotes and resources at: https://soundbitesrd.com/214