Effects of palatability on food, caloric, and macronutrient intake in a three-course meal Tim Beckner, Michelle Bertling, Jai-Sheena Garnett, Allison Thomas, Kim Trimble

The Essential Points Overeating is a serious problem Why do we overeat? Need for study of feeding behaviors An animal model of overeating SSS and overeating Do rats overeat? Does palatibility contribute to overeating? What effect does palatability have on food, caloric, and macronutrient intake? Must establish relative palatabilities for 3 foods? Does the sequence of courses affect intake? How is this information useful or beneficial? What recommendations can be made based on our results?

Overeating: A Growing Problem -Healthy Body Mass Index=19-24. -Overweight BMI=25-29. -Obesity BMI=30.

American Eating Trends Causes of Overeating -too many calories -too much good food - highly palatable (restaurant food and fast food) -too little activity -food used as medicine Overeating is multi-factorial -diets and prolonged caloric restriction (dieting craving binge eating) -too much stress -too little sleep.

Which is more palatable? Previous Studies Which is more palatable? FL RC OR Satiety Sensory-specific satiety - LeMagnan et. Al (xx)- rats -Rolls et. al (xx)- rats and humans Research at Wofford - Stinnett et. al - Ross et. al - Henry et. al Meal Calories per gram Froot Loops (FL) 3.78 Funyuns (OR) 4.96 Rat Chow (RC) 3.30

Purposes (1) To determine relative palatabilities of Rat Chow, Onion Rings and Froot Loops® (2) To determine if sequences of courses in a three-course meal affects food intake caloric intake macronutrient intake.

Hypotheses RC<OR<FL (1) When offered 3 foods simultaneously, Rat Chow is the least palatable (based on latency to eat and intake), Onion Rings have a greater palatability and Froot Loops have the highest palatability. (2) Offering a sequence of courses in which palatability increases with each course will result in the highest consumption of food and caloric intake. RC<OR<FL

Methods: Cafeteria Experiment 21 Male Sprague-Dawley Rats 12 hour light/dark cycle, RC ad libitum except Experimental Day (18 hour food deprivation) Foods presented simultaneously Froot Loops Funyuns Rat Chow 3 rats per week Counterbalanced over 7 weeks

Experimental Timeline End Experiment: Remove and weigh all foods Foods removed, weighed, and returned to cages Begin Experiment: Insert 3 foods 8:00 AM 8:10 8:20 8:30 8:40 8:50 9:00 9:10 9:20 9:30 Foods removed, weighed, and returned to cages Two indices of palatability: Latency to eat each food (minutes) Intake of each food (grams)

which food is most palatable? Based on intake, which food is most palatable? Least palatable? Summary: Shorter latencies to eat OR and FL suggest that these foods are more palatable than RC.

In a three-course meal, does the sequence of food presentation affect total food or nutrient intake or macronutrient intake? Summary: When presented simultaneously, rats show a strong preference for Froot Loops. RC and OR are of similar palatability.

Sequence Experiment Meal = 3 Courses Rat given one of six course sequences Sequence 1 – RC, OR, FL Sequence 2 – RC, FL, OR Sequence 3 – OR, RC, FL Sequence 4 – OR, FL, RC Sequence 5 – FL, RC, OR Sequence 6 – FL, OR, RC Counterbalanced

Experimental Timeline Did the sequence in which the rats received the courses affect the total food intake? 9:40 Remove Course 2, Present Course 3, Measure Course 2 total intake Measure food intake 9:30 10:00 Measure food intake Course 1 Course 2 Course 3 Present Course 1 8:00 Measure food intake 8:50 9:10 Remove Course 1, Present Course 2, Measure Course 1 total intake 10:10 Remove Course 3, Measure food intake 18 hr food Deprivation

Results So total intake in grams wasn’t affected but what about the caloric intake?

5.0 Cal/gram 3.8 Cal/gram 3.3 Cal/gram

Hypothesis (1) When offered 3 foods, froot loops will be the most palatable, rat chow the least, and funyuns will have an intermediate palatability. (2) Offering a sequence of courses in which palatability increases with each course will result in the highest consumption of food and caloric intake.

What did we learn? 3 food choices offered Froot loops=most palatable, rat chow=the least, and funyuns=intermediate If offered 3 foods simultaneously, rats will eat to satiety on the most palatable food, eating very little of the less palatable foods. After being food deprived, the order in which 3 meals were offered did not effect the total food intake. Changing the order in which you eat food has no effect on how much you eat. Meal sequence does have an effect on the nutritional value of what you eat in a meal

Who Cares?! Overweight and obese people. Portion control Nutritional Value

Further Application: NASA Increase in space exploration Astronauts spend more time in space Change in cephalic fluid Astronauts get sick and don’t eat enough Nutritional value

Changing course sequence in a meal can affect macronutrient intake BIG PICTURE! Changing course sequence in a meal can affect macronutrient intake

But make sure you eat it LAST!! Have your cake and eat it TOO!! But make sure you eat it LAST!!