Author, Melissa Hogenboom
Published at 2:56 am on June 10, 2026
Reading time: 3 minutes
We may think we have complete control over our food choices, but our senses are always influencing what we buy and how much we eat. Here's how you can use these senses in turn.
You may not realize it, but you can actually "taste" flavors with your ears. Thinking about the sound of steak sizzling on the iron plate or the sound of a soda can being opened, has your index finger moved? Think back to the last time you ate at a restaurant and the music was playing. Did it affect your enjoyment of the food?
"We all think that taste comes from the tongue, but in fact, all the senses are involved," said Charles Spence, a food science psychologist at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
In fact, before we actually taste the food, our brains have already made expectations based on information such as appearance, sound, touch, and smell, often without us even noticing. Signals from sight, hearing, touch and smell not only affect how much we like food, but also how much we eat.
Humans are not rational eaters, and sensory cues can easily sway our choices. However, more and more research shows that we can use these principles to "invade" our senses and help us develop healthier eating habits.
Be careful with bright packaging
Take shopping, for example, where our vision plays a key role in making choices. The color of the packaging, the brand logo, and even the gloss of the packaging will invisibly affect the brain’s expectation of the content.
When food is more visually striking, it is also more likely to attract us. The study found that even if healthy and unhealthy options were presented at the same time, as long as the color saturation of the healthy food was increased, the probability of subjects choosing it would significantly increase. This involves the so-called "saliency bias", which is that people's attention is often attracted to the most eye-catching things.
Betina Piqueras-Fiszman, associate professor of marketing and consumer behavior at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, pointed out that people also judge the healthiness of food based on the color of the packaging. For example, brown, green and white are generally considered healthier; while red, yellow, purple, or packaging with a shiny texture are more likely to be associated with "hedonistic" foods.
Spence suggests using this at home to "counter" this bias, such as placing cookies or other sweets in bright packaging in opaque jars. This can avoid being irritated by attention-grabbing packaging and reduce the intake of impromptu high-calorie snacks.
Pay attention to the placement and avoid the temptation at the checkout counter
The placement of products on the shelf is also worth paying attention to - people tend to take shortcuts and prefer products that are closer or just within sight. This phenomenon is called the "minimum effort principle" and is often used by retailers to influence consumers' purchasing behavior.
For example, supermarkets often place attractive items near the checkout counter or place pricier products at eye level, prompting us to buy or even eat foods we didn't originally intend to choose.
In recent years, some measures have been taken to address this problem. For example, England prohibits the display of high-fat, high-sugar, and high-salt (HFSS) foods in checkout areas; many European countries have also implemented food labeling systems to allow consumers to better understand product characteristics.
These measures can help promote healthy choices. For example, when unhealthy snacks such as candies are removed from the checkout, impulse purchases can be reduced; and research has also found that placing fruit near the checkout can encourage consumers to purchase more.
So the next time you do your weekly shopping, pay more attention to the less obvious shelves and you might find more healthy options that have been overlooked.
Use heavier bowls
It’s not just vision and hearing that affect our eating experience, the way food is presented is equally critical.
For example, if a dessert is served on a white round plate, people tend to think it tastes sweeter; if the same dessert is served on a black and angular plate, the sweetness rating will be lower. Packaging shapes have a similar effect – most people prefer rounded shapes to angular designs.
Spencer pointed out: "Taste is actually a comprehensive construction of multiple senses in the brain, rather than just a feeling from the mouth."
In addition, the weight of the tableware we use may also affect the feeling of fullness after a meal. One study found that consumers rated eating from heavier containers as more satiating even before they tasted the food, although the study didn't actually measure the subjects' satiety levels. Other research also shows that we feel full more easily when we think of food as richer.
"When people take just one bite, they're already being led to think they'll feel fuller," says Piqueras-Fiszman.
In addition, some studies have pointed out that heavier tableware can also affect our perception of taste, making some diners more satisfied with their meals when using heavier tableware.
The presentation looks better
It's not hard to imagine that the way food is presented on the plate also affects how much we look forward to the meal, making low-calorie options more appealing.
One study once designed the salad plate to look like a Kandinsky painting, and found that the subjects not only thought it tasted better, but were even willing to pay more for the same ingredients. The key lies in the different presentation methods.
Spence recommends adding a variety of colorful leafy greens and vegetables to your plate to increase visual appeal and make the dish feel fresher.
Play slower music
Sound is actually another hidden "seasoning element" that can affect the way we eat. This phenomenon is called "sonic seasoning." For example, slower-paced music makes people eat more slowly (and eating slowly usually means taking in fewer calories).
The pitch of music can even change how we experience taste—higher frequencies often make people feel sweeter, while lower frequencies can intensify bitterness, making even sweet foods like toffee taste bitter. These findings have also prompted some businesses to start playing specific music to match or enhance the flavor experience of food.
In addition, avoiding distractions during meals, such as not watching TV or scrolling on your phone, can also help reduce calorie intake. And listening to the sounds of nature may further guide us in making greener eating choices.
Increase portion size with healthy foods
Although the impact of sound on dietary choices is relatively subtle, by adjusting the structure of the food itself, it can significantly reduce caloric intake. One way is to reduce the "energy density" (ie, calories) of food while maintaining the same portion size. Studies have repeatedly shown that people generally eat similar volumes of food without changing their intake due to differences in calories.
Barbara Rawls, professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University, said: "As long as the energy density of this food is reduced, you can consume fewer calories while maintaining a feeling of satiety."
Her research found that by adding pureed vegetables such as broccoli or spinach to meals, the overall energy density was reduced by up to 25%, and subjects still felt just as full. Because the size and flavor of the food remained essentially the same, the participants barely noticed a difference, but the actual calories they consumed decreased.
Beware of the “dessert stomach” effect
