The aroma of olive oil helps the feeling of fullness
Published on 27/3/2013
Feeling full with just a drizzle of oil?
It would seem so, based on the results of a study carried out in Germany at the Technische Universität of Munich (TUM) by professors Peter Schieberle and Veronika Somoza of the University of Vienna, which appears to show precisely that foods prepared with olive oil or olive oil aroma, compared with other vegetable oils, would ensure a greater feeling of fullness in the consumer.
The scientific evidence would derive from the higher concentration of serotonin found in the blood of the human sample "treated" with olive oil compared with those treated with other oils.
However, it would not be olive oil itself — the study clarifies — that is responsible for the feeling of fullness, but rather the compound of its aromas. The method, or acid test, was carried out empirically with a sample test.
Two different groups were given plain whole-milk yogurt and yogurt enriched with "olive oil aroma." The empirical result would seem unequivocal: over the duration of the test, the sample group fed plain yogurt consumed on average 176 kcal per day more than the test group.