Does pleasure increase nutrient absorption?

I’ve seen a study that is interpreted in a way that suggests that wether you like the food you eat, impacts the absorption of Iron.

So the study has two parts to it.

In the first part there were two swedish participants and two participants from Thailand. When Thai food was served, the thai participants absorbed more iron than the swedish participants, despite the meals being exactly the same. When swedish food was served, the swedish participants absorbed more iron than the thai participants, despite the food having the exact same nutrients as well.

Now there is the assumption that the swedish people absorbed more iron from the swedish meal over the thai meal because they enjoyed the swedish meal and disliked the thai meal and vice versa with the thai participants.

But I just can’t believe that this is the actual reason. Does anyone know what really causes the difference in absorption?

My guess would be Evolution. That swedish people have evolved to process typical swedish food more efficiently, while Thai people have evolved to process typical Thai food more efficiently.

The second part of the study just says that people abaorb less iron from overly homogenized (blended) food over non homogenized (not blended) food, which is easily explainable without the factor of taste