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Pleasure as an ally of healthy eating? contrasting visceral and Epicurean eating pleasure and their association with portion size preferences and wellbeing
This 2016 study tries to differentiate 2 approaches that research studies use to describe eating pleasure: “Epicurean” pleasure which refers to the pleasure felt based on the aesthetic appreciation of the sensory and symbolic value of the food; and the eating pleasure that has been associated with short-term visceral (felt internally) sensations triggered by hunger, external cues, or internal emotional urges. Cornil & Chandon developed scales for Epicurean eating pleasure and utilized the external eating and emotional eating scales to find differences in tendencies to experience Epicurean eating and visceral pleasure. The results demonstrated a higher prevalence of Epicurean eating pleasure among the women than the men when the analysis model didn’t consider age, income and education. Unlike visceral eating pleasure, the tendency to feel aesthetic-related eating pleasure was linked with a preference for smaller food portions and better health, but not with higher BMI. The researchers believe that a more holistic approach ought to be taken to describe eating pleasure, one that takes into account the positive role of Epicurean eating pleasure in healthy eating and well-being. [NPID: behavior, pleasure, epicurean pleasure, sensory, symbolism, visceral, external cues, internal emotional urges, emotional eating, epicurean eating, visceral pleasure, portions, portion control, holistic health]
Year: 2016
