dr.ir. M (Monica) Mars

dr.ir. M (Monica) Mars

Associate Professor

Research interest
Non-nutritional properties, such as taste and texture, are essential in food intake, and despite the fact that the evidence for their role in food intake is growing, more fundamental (mechanistic) data and well-designed intervention studies are needed put these food properties on the (research) agenda of nutritionists. Potential opportunities for cooperation between food design and nutrition research need to be exploited better. Food technologists and nutritionists need to understand each other’s needs and drivers better by talking to each other and work together towards healthy and sustainable foods.

Three research lines
My research focuses on a better understanding of the relation between food properties, eating style, oral and gastric physiology, and human food intake. My research is structured in the following 3 research

  1. Better understand physiological mechanisms in cephalic, oral, and gastric responses to foods in relation to satiation and satiety
  2. Study effects of changes in eating style or food properties longer-term outcomes, such as food intake and weight status
  3. Assess relations between non-nutritional food properties with food intake and weight status

Within these research lines, I also develop and integrate new research techniques to measure eating behavior with digital tools (apps and sensors) and other novel approaches such as citizen science and big data.