1. 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

2. 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?

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

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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)

10. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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

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

23. 5.0 Cal/gram
3.8 Cal/gram
3.3 Cal/gram

25. 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.

26. 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

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

28. 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

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

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