Foods Within a Meal and Food Liking Study

Summary

For weight loss to occur, energy intake needs to be reduced to incur an energy deficit. One dietary strategy that may facilitate weight loss is consuming a diet low in dietary energy density (ED). It is hypothesized that a diet low in ED, which can be achieved by a high intake of low-ED foods, low intake of high-ED foods, or a combination of the two, will allow a greater amount of volume of food to be consumed relative to energy consumed, which can assist with reducing energy intake.

To understand how best to lower the ED of the diet, it is important to understand the relationship between low-ED and high-ED foods. Behavioral economics is a framework that provides a foundation to understand that eating behaviors can be substitutes for each other. Substitute eating behaviors are two behaviors that change in the opposite direction of each other (i.e. one behavior increases as the other behavior decreases). If low-ED and high-ED foods are substitutes for each other, in situations in which low-ED food intake increases, high-ED food should automatically decrease, and vice versa. If they are not substitutes, when low-ED food intake increases, high-ED food intake should remain unchanged, and when high-ED food intake decreases, low-ED food intake should remain unchanged. When low-Ed and high-ED foods are not substitutes for each other, purposeful change in intake for both low- and high-ED foods need to occur to best lower dietary ED.

Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate if low-ED foods and high-ED foods substitute for each other. Healthy weight adults will be served a meal over 4 sessions, with each meal containing 5 different food items. The foods in the meal will vary in ED: low-ED = 0 to 1.0 kcal/kg; medium-ED = 1.1 to 2.9 kcal/kg; high-ED = \> 3.0 kcal/g. For the 4 sessions, the meals will include: 1) 3 low-ED foods, 0 medium-ED foods, 2 high-ED foods; 2) 3 low-ED foods, 1 medium-ED food, 1 high-ED food; 3) 1 low-ED food, 2-medium ED foods, 2 high-ED foods; and 4) 1 low-ED food, 3 medium-ED foods, and 1 high-ED food.

Conditions

• Diet Habit
• Obesity

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Order 1

Meal Order 1: Meal Session 1 participant receives meal 1 (3 low-ED, 0 medium-ED, 2 high-ED) Meal Session 2 participant receives meal 2 (3 low-ED, 1 medium-ED,1 high-ED) Meal Session 3 participant receives meal 3 (1 low-ED, 2-medium ED, 2 high-ED) Meal Session 4 participant receives meal 4 (1 low-ED, 3 medium-ED, 1 high-ED)

BEHAVIORAL

Order 2

Meal Order 2: Meal Session 1 participant receives meal 2 (3 low-ED, 1 medium-ED,1 high-ED) Meal Session 2 participant receives meal 3 (1 low-ED, 2-medium ED, 2 high-ED) Meal Session 3 participant receives meal 4 (1 low-ED, 3 medium-ED, 1 high-ED) Meal Session 4 participant receives meal 1 (3 low-ED, 0 medium-ED, 2 high-ED)

BEHAVIORAL

Order 3

Meal Order 3: Meal Session 1 participant receives meal 3 (1 low-ED, 2-medium ED, 2 high-ED) Meal Session 2 participant receives meal 4 (1 low-ED, 3 medium-ED, 1 high-ED) Meal Session 3 participant receives meal 1 (3 low-ED, 0 medium-ED, 2 high-ED) Meal Session 4 participant receives meal 2 (3 low-ED, 1 medium-ED,1 high-ED)

BEHAVIORAL

Order 4

Meal Order 4: Meal Session 1 participant receives meal 4 (1 low-ED, 3 medium-ED, 1 high-ED) Meal Session 2 participant receives meal 1 (3 low-ED, 0 medium-ED, 2 high-ED) Meal Session 3 participant receives meal 2 (3 low-ED, 1 medium-ED,1 high-ED) Meal Session 4 participant receives meal 3 (1 low-ED, 2-medium ED, 2 high-ED)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Hollie Raynor, PhD · University of Tennessee

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SCREENING

Masking

SINGLE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

35 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-12-13

Primary Completion

2025-12-31

Completion

2025-12-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations