Think about your favorite food. Chances are it’s something really flavorful and delicious – like a juicy cheeseburger, creamy macaroni and cheese, or fall-off-the-bone ribs with just the right amount of sweet and tangy sauce. While you’ve probably thought plenty about your favorite food (and eaten it plenty as well!), you might have spent less time thinking about what exactly makes it your favorite. Yes, it’s delicious, but why do you perceive it that way? Enter the concept of palatability: this is how agreeable or pleasant something is to our taste, and there are many factors that can influence how palatable we find a specific food. Take this idea even a step further, and we have the concept of food reward: the physiological and psychological impact of a particular food and environment that influences how much of that food we desire and consume.

In Part 1 of this article I am going to break down all of the factors that can impact the palatability of a food. Part 2 will dive into a concept known as hyper-palatability and how it relates to food reward, go over why it’s problematic, and offer practical steps for addressing it. Though the following list is probably not exhaustive (humans are always coming up with new ways to make our food tastier!), here are 7 factors that affect the palatability of our food:

• Flavor/Seasoning: This is one of the most basic palatability variables. Anytime we add a new flavor to our food, even a basic one, it becomes tastier. The more flavors, the higher the palatability. This category includes additions like salt, fat, acidity, sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and umami. For example, most people are going to enjoy and eat more chicken wings if they are covered in sauce versus just plain. Even a simple raw tomato is elevated by adding some salt, and shrimp dipped in butter and Old Bay is harder to stop eating than shrimp with just one or the other.
• Texture/Mouthfeel: Have you ever had a soggy french fry? How does it compare to a crisp one? Or what about a grape that pops as you bite it compared to one that just mushes? Would you rather bite into a slice of crusty french bread or soft white sandwich bread? Crisp, crunch, chew, pop, juiciness – these are all different textures and experiences that make a food more palatable and interesting. Think about a crunchy apple as compared to one that is mealy or freshly roasted chicken skin compared to its softer leftovers. Texture can make a huge difference!

• Variety/Combination: While some people can go their whole lives happily eating the same few meals every day, most of us crave variety at some point. Simply by varying the foods that we eat, or the combinations in which we eat them, we can increase the amount of food that we consume. Think about a charcuterie board full of different meats, cheeses, crackers, and pickled vegetables. If that same board was presented with only meat or only cheese, you would wind up eating less. Plain salami will get boring eventually, but salami with pillowy mozzarella and pepperoncini on a rosemary cracker is *chef’s kiss.* Even with less interesting foods, this phenomenon is still in play. Would you rather eat 3 apples or 3 cups worth of fruit salad?

• Processing/Cooking: This category covers a wide range of additives and methods. For example, we all know that we should eat fewer processed foods, but did you realize that even basic cooking with heat is technically processing? It’s probably safe to say that most of us would rather have a cooked hamburger (even if it’s rare) over a raw one, and the smell of a baked apple is definitely more tempting than the raw fruit. Moving a little more along the spectrum of processing, think about the palatability difference between peanuts and fresh strawberries vs. peanut butter and strawberry jam (even without added sugar!). Turn those strawberries into a smoothie, and you’ve increased the palatability even more! Hyper-processed foods often elicit an addictive-like response, because they are so different from the original state of their ingredients and create a unique taste experience that is often enhanced with exaggerated flavor or textural elements. For example, a can of ginger ale is way more appealing than a thumb of fresh ginger with a glass of water and spoon of sugar!

• Age/Time: Some foods just taste better with time! This factor comes into play with foods like cheeses, fermented vegetables (kimchi, sauerkraut), and alcohol. Some people prefer a young cheddar, whereas others crave the complexity of a more aged cheese. Likewise, cooking time affects palatability, and this is highly individual as well – from medium rare tuna and lightly steamed vegetables to 48-hr sous vide brisket and vegetables roasted to a crisp. And, unfortunately, I think most of us have had at least one bad experience with time decreasing palatability – like undercooked potatoes or dried-out fish.
• Temperature: This variable is similar to cooking, in that heating something can make it more palatable. It also goes beyond this, however, and applies to the temperature at which already-cooked foods are served. The hot entrees sitting out at a buffet are infinitely more appealing if they are actually hot rather than room temperature or cool. Likewise, food items that are typically enjoyed cold are more appetizing to us if they are indeed cold. No one wants a nice, lukewarm bowl of ice cream, do they? How about a cold hot dog?

• Uniqueness/Scarcity: Have you ever wondered why snack companies come out with such extreme flavor combinations like “Tangy Pickle and Cool Ranch” Doritos or “Swedish Fish” Oreos? (I didn’t make those flavors up, by the way) It’s because simply by virtue of being unique, people will eat more of them. The unusual flavor combinations create a perception of scarcity (you won’t find those combos anywhere in nature!) and an experience that often hits several “reward factors” in our mouths and brains. Sweet, salty, and crunchy? – Who could resist?! Even less-processed, more whole-form foods can be affected by this factor. If you come across a tropical fruit on your summer vacation that you can’t easily find at home, chances are you’re going to eat more of it simply because it’s not always available.

Knowing how these factors affect palatability gives us a better understanding of why certain foods seem more irresistible than others. In the next part of this article, we’ll explore what happens when foods become overwhelmingly palatable, how this impacts food reward, what other factors contribute to how much we eat, and specific actions you can take to create and maintain a healthy diet. Stay tuned for part 2!