Spence Charles, Youssef Jozef
Crossmodal Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Anna Watts Building, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK.
Kitchen Theory, Unit 9A Alston Works, London EN5 4EL, UK.
Foods. 2021 Jan 15;10(1):168. doi: 10.3390/foods10010168.
The growing aging population are increasingly suffering from the negative health consequences of the age-related decline in their senses, especially their chemical senses. Unfortunately, however, unlike for the higher senses of vision and hearing, there is currently nothing that can be done to bring back the chemical senses once they are lost (or have started their inevitable decline). The evidence suggests that such chemosensory changes can result in a range of maladaptive food behaviours, including the addition of more salt and sugar to food and drink in order to experience the same taste intensity while, at the same time, reducing their overall consumption because food has lost its savour. Here, though, it is also important to stress the importance of the more social aspects of eating and drinking, given the evidence suggesting that a growing number of older individuals are consuming more of their meals alone than ever before. Various solutions have been put forward in order to try to enhance the food experience amongst the elderly, including everything from optimising the product-intrinsic food inputs provided to the remaining functional senses through to a variety of digital interventions. Ultimately, however, the aim has to be to encourage healthier patterns of food consumption amongst this rapidly-growing section of the population by optimising the sensory, nutritional, social, and emotional aspects of eating and drinking. An experimental dinner with the residents of one such home where nostalgic-flavoured healthy ice-creams were served is described.
日益增长的老年人口越来越多地遭受与年龄相关的感官衰退，尤其是化学感官衰退带来的负面健康影响。然而，不幸的是，与视觉和听觉等高级感官不同，一旦化学感官丧失（或开始不可避免地衰退），目前没有任何办法可以恢复它们。有证据表明，这种化学感官变化会导致一系列适应不良的饮食行为，包括在食物和饮料中添加更多的盐和糖，以便在体验相同的味道强度的同时，由于食物失去了风味而减少总体摄入量。不过，鉴于有证据表明越来越多的老年人独自用餐的次数比以往任何时候都多，在这里强调饮食中更多社交方面的重要性也很重要。为了尝试提升老年人的饮食体验，人们提出了各种解决方案，包括从优化提供给剩余功能感官的产品内在食物输入到各种数字干预措施等方方面面。然而，最终的目标必须是通过优化饮食和饮水的感官、营养、社交和情感方面，鼓励这一快速增长的人口群体形成更健康的食物消费模式。本文描述了与一个这样的养老院居民共进的一次实验性晚餐，晚餐提供了带有怀旧味道的健康冰淇淋。
