Nutrition is the cornerstone of human and environmental wellbeing. Scientific findings however, show that we need to change our dietary habits, but in order to provide new healthy, sustainable and nutritional foods that appeal to the general population, we must gain an in-depth understanding of all the key factors that influence our food choices and make our foods delicious and irresistible.
An interdisciplinary approach
The project is carried out by AST (Advanced Sustainable Technologies) Research Center and supported by Login5 Foundation.
AST is an interdisciplinary research hub specialized in applied research into human consciousness, cognition, and experience related to nutrition. The aim of AST research is to deliver breakthrough insights into how people experience food and derive comfort, enjoyment and satisfaction from it. This knowledge will serve to support the development of a new generation of delicious human nourishment, that is both healthy and sustainable for the environment.
Creating mass appeal by understanding our eating habits
In order to provide new nutritional products that appeal to the general population, we must gain an in-depth understanding of the complexity of our eating habits, coupled with our mechanisms of pleasure. Only by knowing all the key factors that motivate and influence our food choices can we discover what makes food delicious and irresistible.
To that end, AST is applying a holistic approach, to build a big picture of human food experiences; from the chemical components of food and how our brain and body react to it, to cultural norms and social trends influencing our food-related behavior. The AST research team is therefore using a variety of the latest approaches and methods, including neuroscience and biometric research, artificial intelligence, psychological research, the social sciences, food science, sensory analysis and food hacking.
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Tests are used to check participants for their ability to distinguish differences in food colors.
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Brain activity data provides a useful insight into the unconscious processes behind our enjoyment of food.
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Aromas play a central role in our perception of food.
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In the course of human evolution vision has become the dominant sense of our perception of the world.
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In-depth understanding of our eating habits begins with serious research and brainstorming session.
The future of food
Since the food we eat greatly affects our health and the whole natural habitat (soil, water and air), AST is developing high impact solutions which will bring about broad, long-term changes in global diet with positive impacts for our planet.
Because they passionately believe that the future of food will be FUN-TASTIC:
• fun
• tasty
• affordable
• sustainable
• thriving (healthy)
• instantaneous (quick and easy to prepare)
• convenient (readily available anywhere)
To find out more about AST Research, visit www.astresearch.org.
