The Dairy Matrix: Its Importance, Definition, and Current Application in the Context of Nutrition and Health.

Nutrition research has shifted from single nutrients to examining the association of foods and dietary patterns with health. This includes recognizing that food is more than the sum of the individual nutrients and relates to the concept of the food matrix. Like other foods, dairy foods are characterized by their unique matrices and associated health effects.

Measuring oral fatty acid thresholds, fat perception, fatty food liking, and papillae density in humans.

Emerging evidence from a number of laboratories indicates that humans have the ability to identify fatty acids in the oral cavity, presumably via fatty acid receptors housed on taste cells. Previous research has shown that an individual's oral sensitivity to fatty acid, specifically oleic acid (C18:1) is associated with body mass index (BMI), dietary fat consumption, and the ability to identify fat in foods. We have developed a reliable and reproducible method to assess oral chemoreception of fatty acids, using a milk and C18:1 emulsion, together with an ascending forced choice triangle procedure.

Impaired oral fatty acid chemoreception is associated with acute excess energy consumption.

Excessive consumption of dietary fat is implicated with development of obesity. Impaired oral and gastrointestinal chemoreception to the breakdown products of dietary fat, fatty acids, may be associated with increased energy consumption. The objective of this study was to determine if impaired oral fatty acid chemoreception influences energy intake and perceived satiety.

Functionality of fatty acid chemoreception: a potential factor in the development of obesity?

Excess dietary fat consumption is recognized as a strong contributing factor in the development of overweight and obesity. Understanding why some individuals are better than others at regulating fat intake will become increasingly important and emerging associative evidence implicates attenuated fatty acid sensing in both the oral cavity and gastrointestinal (GI) tract in the development of obesity. Functional implications of impaired fatty acid chemoreception include diminished activation of the gustatory system, the cephalic response and satiety.