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This is two separate stories, really – but they combine so nicely, I have to serve them up as one hot dish. The first story: Americans have an obesity problem. What if we could feel as sated by eating food that took up the same space on the plate, but was filled by air inside? Story number 2: What if we could 3D print steak?
3D printing food with air inside, so you eat less, feel full
MIT’s CSAIL human-computer interface engineering is doing research on what makes a person feel full. It turns out, there are a bunch of different things involved.
It could be the texture, the size of the plate, how large the food is on the plate, or even just how much extra chewing is required, or all of these.
CSAIL’s work is in 3D printing the food so that there’s more air inside. By doing this, the food takes up more space on the plate, and makes you feel more full.
For example, here’s the same 100 calories. Each sample has more air than the last, which increases chewing time. You wouldn’t think that it would. Why would chewing something with more air in it take more time? Because it’s bigger.
The more time you spend chewing, the more full you feel, apparently.
3D printed steak
Novameat is working on printing vegan steak using a 3D printer.
This 3D printed steak imitates the microfibers of an actual beefsteak pic.twitter.com/EJEFISYrus
— Seeker (@Seeker) April 6, 2020
Early reviews seem to suggest the texture and taste is very steak-like.
They can apparently also mimic the texture of chicken, fish, and other meats. What if it was possible to combine these two things, and have the taste and some of the texture, while avoiding weight gain?
