Regulating Appetite

The increased palatability that umami brings also has an important role in stimulating our appetites. This is especially important among those people, the elderly in particular, who are less able to sense tastes and smells, thereby making eating less pleasurable, or those who do not have the energy to eat. Such a loss of appetite can have negative health effects, and umami substances provide a good opportunity to alleviate sensory problems. What is more, unlike the other main ways of improving palatability - adding fat, sugar and salt - umami substances do not bring health disadvantages.