Sugar, sweetners, satiety and appropriate eating
Posted: 30 Jan 2013, 16:41I spotted this interesting review paper which nicely summarises the confusion over the role of low-cal drinks and foods in creating/controlling obesity. Although the authors appear to have received some funding from interested parties, the points they make about the design of studies to examine how sugar substitutes may affect appetite and energy intake are valid.
However, apart from that, they make some interesting observations on the role of desire and deprivation on energy intake:
This could be a key point for the success of the fast diet - we do not have to deny ourselves the things we fancy and this helps us to eat in the right context. Further, the comment about carbohydrate intake reinforces the advice from Dr M that we should keep to protein and vegetables on fast days.
However, apart from that, they make some interesting observations on the role of desire and deprivation on energy intake:
Overweight individuals with visceral adiposity have augmented food wanting and energy intake in the absence of hunger (49). Vulnerability to carbohydrate intake under stress is reflected in the cortisol response, which decreases after protein and fat intake but not after carbohydrate intake (50). Stress-induced eating is not only related to enhanced postprandial wanting but also to reduced postprandial liking. Characterization of food perception is less pronounced and liking scores are consistently lower in overweight than in normal-weight individuals under stress (51). Therefore, postprandial stress-induced eating in overweight individuals seems to be due to relatively decreased liking and increased wanting, again suggesting the presence of reward deficiency in these individuals (47). Reward deficiency is most apparent in the absence of hunger, in agreement with the notion that reward deficiency leads to reward seeking that may result in overeating (47).
A recent hypothesis proposes that, in order to avoid reward deficiency, it might be beneficial for an individual to eat what he or she likes as long as this happens in the appropriate physiologic condition (i.e., when hungry) (52). As long as meal-time food intake meets energy as well as reward homeostasis, this could prevent overeating between meals.
This could be a key point for the success of the fast diet - we do not have to deny ourselves the things we fancy and this helps us to eat in the right context. Further, the comment about carbohydrate intake reinforces the advice from Dr M that we should keep to protein and vegetables on fast days.
