The Human Saccharification

Bad eating habits are a side effect of our wealthy society. And the lockdown gave them another boost. One big problem is sugar. Sugar makes you listless, tired, depressed and sick. Nevertheless, we always need more of it.

This project tries to trick our craving for sugar with the help of gastrophysics. Gastrophysics investigates how the taste senses can be influenced by non-taste stimuli. The idea in this case is to make something taste sweeter than it actually is. Then, in the best case scenario, the sugar could be omitted or at least reduced. To what extent are the colours, shapes and structures of tableware suitable for inducing such a psychological effect?

Based on the science of gastrophysics, but also on our own results from an associative word and colour experiment, as well as another experiment involving taste, colour and shape, the most important structures and shapes were defined as round and wavy. The colours for fruity-vanilla desserts are light pink to pink, but also light brown and beige tones are possible. The colors for nutty, chocolatey desserts were described as dark to light brown or red caramel tones.