NASA Human Research Program Investigators' Workshop (2012)
4018.pdf
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO FOOD ACCEPTABILITY AND CONSUMPTION,
MOOD AND STRESS ON LONG-TERM SPACE MISSIONS
Z. M. Vickers1, T. L. Mann2, and J. P. Redden3
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108 zvickers@umn.edu,
2
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, and 3 Marketing Department, Carlson School of Management,
University of Minnesota.
1
Our proposed research explores factors that contribute to satisfaction of a repetitive diet, as well as the usefulness of
food preparation and the consumption of specific foods for improving mood and reducing stress.
The objective of our first focus is to examine behaviors related to preparing and consuming meals. To do this we
will separately manipulate food preparation effort and food preparation creativity. We will measure the fluctuation
in participants’ stress and moods using heart rate monitors, cortisol measurements, and a variety of subjective rating
scales.
The objective of our second focus is to identify foods that commonly trigger positive moods or emotions, then to
evaluate consumption of these foods for the ability to improve an induced negative mood.
The objective of our third focus is to increase people’s appreciation of the variety in their diet (without increasing
the number of menu items). To do this we will examine whether reminders of the variety of past food consumption
can make the present meal more enjoyable, and induce a more positive mood.