Chocolate cravings are susceptible to visuo-spatial interference

The study investigated the specificity of visuo-spatial working memory-based techniques as a means to reduce chocolate cravings. Twenty-four self-identified chocolate cravers and 24 non-cravers formed and maintained images of chocolate-containing foods elicited by pictures, while performing a visuo-spatial task (loading the visuo-spatial sketch pad) or an auditory task (loading the phonological loop). Vividness and craving intensity were rated for each image. Concurrent visuo-spatial processing was found to render chocolate images significantly less vivid and cravings less intense compared to concurrent verbal processing, for both cravers and non-cravers. Chocolate cravers did, however, report higher levels of chocolate craving and intake than non-cravers. It was concluded that visuo-spatial tasks provide an effective craving reduction mechanism for the management of chocolate cravings. Such techniques may be particularly useful in populations for whom eating problems are triggered by chocolate craving.     

Spatiotemporal dynamics of the hedonic processing of chocolate images in individuals with and without trait chocolate craving

The spatiotemporal dynamics of the hedonic response to chocolate images was investigated in healthy participants high and low in trait-chocolate craving employing high-density ERPs. There were two sessions: (1) before and (2) after satiety for chocolate. Among cravers, chocolate stimuli evoked a positive amplitude ERP enhancement over the anterior frontal scalp (250-350 ms) that was not modified by satiety and that source localized to the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex. Chocolate stimuli also elicited a later LPP over the posterior scalp (360-560 ms) which was of similar amplitude for high and low chocolate cravers, independent of satiety. Unexpectedly, in non-cravers, chocolate stimuli elicited an earlier (100-250 ms) negative ERP modulation over the frontomedial scalp, which disappeared after eating chocolate to satiety. These results confirm the role of OFC in unrestrained appetitive responses to chocolate in cravers, and suggest top-down influences from cognitive control mechanisms when attempting to restrain the urge to eat chocolate in non-cravers.     

Effect of contingent hunger state on development of appetite for a novel fruit snack

Eating more fruit can reduce risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Understanding barriers to this behaviour is critical for strategies to encourage it. We addressed the question whether the level of hunger at which fruit is eaten would influence the development of appetite for fruit. Half the participants were asked to eat a pair of novel fruit snacks (dried fruit bar; 50 kcal each) exclusively when hungry (at least 3 hours since last eating), and half to eat them exclusively when full (20-30 minutes after a meal), twice a day for one week. Rated appetite for the bars, and ad-libitum intake, were measured when hungry and full, on 2 days prior to, and 2 days after this week. Compliance was assessed from dietary diaries. Thirty participants (22 women, 8 men) completed the study satisfactorily. For the group eating the fruit bars only when hungry (hungry-trained), intake increased after the week, but only when full at the time of testing. Other measures of appetite for this group were unaffected, with the exception of a reduced desire to eat the bars when tested hungry. Ranked preference for the trained flavour increased exclusively among hungry-trained subjects, but only for those who had reported their preferred snack food to be fruit. No change in any measure was found for the group eating the fruit bars exclusively when full. The results suggest the hungry-trained group learnt that the bars lacked strong satiation, thus allowing greater intake when full (learnt desatiation). For the same reason, however, the prospect of eating the bars when mildly hungry lost its appeal. Eating fruit between meals may not encourage snacking on fruit, unless hunger is absent at the time of consumption.     

Food craving, dietary restraint and mood

A common assumption is that dieting causes food cravings, probably as a result of food energy deprivation. This issue was investigated in a two-phase study. In phase one, 206 women completed the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire, the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire and a food craving scale. A correlational analysis showed food craving to be only weakly related to dietary restraint, but highly and significantly correlated with external eating, emotional eating and susceptibility to hunger. In phase two, ten women who regularly experienced food cravings and ten who rarely craved food kept prospective records of their food intake, daily mood and food craving episodes. There were few differences in eating behaviour, although the cravers tended to consume slightly more daily energy than the non-cravers. The cravers had higher ratings of boredom and anxiety during the day, and dysphoric mood was prominent prior to the cravings themselves. Food deprivation does not appear to be a necessary condition for food cravings to occur. Rather, food cravings are closely associated with mood, in particular as an antecedent to craving and also as a consequence of craving.     

Hunger and food intake following consumption of low-calorie foods

Although high-intensity sweeteners are widely used to decrease the energy density of foods, little is known about how this affects hunger and food intake. We have studied the effects of consumption of commercially available foods sweetened with either sucrose or aspartame on subjective appetite ratings and food intake. When normal-weight non-dieting males and females were given large portions of either a high- or low-calorie pudding or jello and instructed to eat as much as they liked, they ate similar weights of the different caloric versions of each food. Despite the resulting difference in caloric intake (up to 206 kcal), subjects showed only a non-significant trend towards caloric compensation when presented with a variety of foods 2 h later. Total caloric intake (preload plus test meal) did not differ between conditions. Ratings of hunger, desire to eat, the amount subjects wanted to eat, and the pleasantness of the taste of the eaten food were similarly decreased and fullness similarly increased by consumption of the different caloric versions of the foods. Awareness of the caloric content of the foods did not influence intake or appetite in that both informed and uniformed subjects responded similarly in the tests. Thus reduced calorie foods suppressed ratings of hunger for several hours after consumption, but were not associated with a significant reduction in total energy intake.     

Experimental effects of chocolate deprivation on cravings, mood, and consumption in high and low chocolate-cravers

This study examined how deprivation of chocolate affects state-level chocolate cravings, mood, and chocolate consumption in high and low trait-level chocolate-cravers. After identifying high and low chocolate cravers (N = 58), half of the participants were instructed not to eat any chocolate for 2 weeks. This created four experimental groups: deprived high-cravers (n = 14), deprived low-cravers (n = 14), non-deprived high-cravers (n = 15), and non-deprived low-cravers (n = 15). Following 2-week deprivation, state-level food cravings, mood, and chocolate intake were measured in a laboratory setting and compared across groups. Analyses revealed that anxiety increased over time for high-cravers (both deprived and non-deprived); state-level chocolate- and food-craving increased over time for both deprived groups and non-deprived high-cravers; non-deprived high-cravers ate the most chocolate; and, high-cravers were more joyful and guilty than low-cravers after eating chocolate in the laboratory. Theoretically, these results suggest that chocolate consumption may be better explained by trait-level of chocolate craving than by deprivation and highlighted significant differences in mood, state-level cravings, and chocolate intake between cravers and non-cravers following deprivation.     

Drug use is associated with elevated food consumption in college students

Higher food consumption, particularly of sweets, has been reported by substance-dependent persons in various stages of treatment but no investigation of substance use and actual food consumption has been conducted in non-dependent persons. Sixty-two male and female college students completed the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey and the amount of each of six snack foods (including both sweet and savory items) they consumed were measured. Participants also rated appetite before and after eating and rated the pleasantness of and desire to eat each food. Hierarchical multivariate regression revealed that, while controlling for the influence of BMI and intermeal interval, frequency and breadth of substance use significantly predicted elevated food consumption and elevated ratings of hunger and desire to eat. Furthermore, the link between breadth of drug use and food consumption was mediated by higher desire to eat and not by pleasantness of the food. The relationship between substance use and eating behavior may not be restricted only to those in recovery or treatment for persons diagnosed with substance use disorders.     

Chocolate craving and the menstrual cycle

Spanish and American female chocolate cravers reported the usual times when they craved chocolate by answering an open-ended question. They also were asked directly if they craved chocolate perimenstrually. American women (40% open-ended, 60% direct) were more likely than were Spanish women (4% open-ended, 24% direct) to report that their chocolate cravings occurred perimenstrually when responding to both questions. The most frequently reported times (other than perimenstrually) that chocolate was craved were the same for Spanish men and women (after eating, studying) and for American men and women (evening), differing cross-culturally but not across gender. The results suggest a cultural origin rather than a physiological basis for chocolate craving.     

Stimulus satiation: effects of repeated exposure to foods on pleasantness and intake

Frequent and repeated exposure to foods produces stimulus satiation or monotony. To explore further the nature of stimulus satiation, two experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 investigated the influence of initial pleasantness and frequency of intake on monotony. Tests showed that bread and butter was eaten more frequently but was liked less than chocolate. Therefore, normal-weight, healthy males were randomly assigned to either a chocolate condition (CC, N=13) or bread and butter condition (BC, N=16). All subjects received fixed amounts of the assigned food (67g/1473kJ of chocolate or 95g/1355kJ of bread and butter) every day for 22 days. On days 1, 8, 15 and 22 subjects consumed this food ad libitum. Pleasantness of taste and desire to eat chocolate declined significantly over time but no such changes were observed for bread and butter. Experiment 2 examined intake, pleasantness and desire to eat chocolate in 53 subjects over a 15 day period, with 3 conditions: control (CS: N=15), fixed (FS: N=20) and variable (VS: N=18). CS received no chocolate except on test days (days 1, 8 and 15), FS received 67g/1473kJ of chocolate daily and VS received increasing amounts of chocolate from 57g/1251kJ on day 1 to 86g/1888kJ by day 12. Pleasantness and desire to eat chocolate declined over time with this being more pronounced for F and V subjects. However, ad libitum intake increased over time. Both experiments demonstrated significant changes in pleasantness and desire to eat chocolate, but no commensurate decline in intake. Thus, although stimulus satiation occurred for subjective ratings of pleasantness and desire to eat chocolate, intake remained unaffected. This apparent dissociation between pleasantness and intake may reflect different processes underlying liking and wanting.     

The Attitudes to Chocolate Questionnaire: psychometric properties and relationship to dimensions of eating

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Attitudes to Chocolate Questionnaire (ACQ). We analyzed the factor structure of the ACQ by conducting exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in a sample of healthy adults and a sample of dietician students. Further, the relationship between the resulting ACQ factors and dimensions of eating behavior, personality, emotionality, and tests of the pleasantness, sweetness, and intensity of sugar and chocolate was examined. The results yielded a clear two-factor structure of the ACQ: The first factor (guilt) was composed of items concerning negative consequences of chocolate eating including the feeling of guilt. The second factor (craving) comprised items related to craving and emotional chocolate eating. Guilt correlated significantly with "emotional eating", "restrained eating", and with neuroticism. Craving correlated significantly with "emotional eating" and "external eating", with neuroticism, and with the "difficulty identifying feelings" facet of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale; further, it correlated highly with the average reported chocolate consumption and with the ratings of the intensity of taste of sugar. In conclusion, results support the validity of the German version of the ACQ and showed a stable factor structure and a good internal consistency.     

Changes in food attitudes as a function of hunger

This experiment investigated whether hunger selectively influences attitudes toward common food items. Participants completed a take-home questionnaire on which they rated their attitudes toward food and non-food items when they were either hungry (45 participants) or not hungry (45 participants); after returning the questionnaire, participants completed a second take-home questionnaire in the opposite hunger condition. Results of both between-subject and within-subject analyses revealed that participants rated foods more positively when hungry compared to not hungry and that there was no difference in the ratings of non-foods when hungry vs. not hungry. Moreover, attitudes toward high-fat foods changed more as a function of hunger than attitudes toward low-calorie foods. As attitudes are important for guiding behavior, these results suggest that food attitudes influence daily eating patterns and consumer decisions regarding food purchases. The findings may also have important health implications because hunger exerts a greater influence on attitudes toward high-fat foods.     

Mechanisms of action of the intragastric balloon in obesity: effects on hunger and satiety

We evaluated the effect of a 500-ml intragastric balloon (Ballobes) on some aspects of eating-related behaviour and weight loss on nine massively obese patients. An 800-kcal mixed meal test was performed some days before, 2-3 days and 2 months after the implant of the balloon. A hypocaloric program was started after the second meal test. At hourly intervals, before and after the meal, patients were asked to rate the desire to eat, hunger, satiety and prospective consumption of food. After 2 months, weight loss was 12.0 +/- 5.1 kg. A significant decrease in the balloon diameters was observed, but none completely deflated. During the meal test performed 2-3 days after the implant, subjects rated themselves as significantly less hungry, fuller and desiring to eat less food. These patterns, however, returned to the baseline levels at the meal test performed after 2 months. No relationship was found between weight loss and reduction in the balloon diameters, nor between the latter and the changes in temporal profiles of eating ratings. The effect of a 500-ml balloon on meal-related hunger and satiety therefore seems to disappear with time.     

Failure to Reduce Short-term Appetite Following Alcohol is Independent of Beliefs about the Presence of Alcohol

Previously, it has been reported that energy consumed as alcohol prior to lunch does not result in subsequent reductions in voluntary food intake, and in some situations alcohol can increase subsequent appetite. The present study extends these findings by examining the effects of beliefs about alcohol content. Eighteen unrestrained men ate lunch 20 min after a preload of either water, an alcoholic beer or a non-alcoholic beer matched for energy content. Food intake was significantly less following the non-alcoholic beer than after alcohol or water, but when preload energy was included subjects had a higher overall energy intake on the day they consumed alcohol compared with both water and no-alcohol conditions. There were no significant differences in hunger or fullness ratings following the three drinks before or after the test meal, but the specific relationship between rated hunger and intake within the test meal was altered by the drink manipulation. The rate at which hunger decreased, and fullness increased, was slower after alcohol than after water or no-alcohol. The drinks did not alter the pleasantness of the test meal or increase hunger at the start of eating. When contrasted with previous work, these data confirm that alcohol consumed before lunch fails to reduce subsequent food intake, but also suggests that changes in rated appetite are influenced by beliefs about alcohol content.     

Failure to reduce short-term appetite following alcohol is independent of beliefs about the presence of alcohol

Previously, it has been reported that energy consumed as alcohol prior to lunch does not result in subsequent reductions in voluntary food intake, and in some situations alcohol can increase subsequent appetite. The present study extends these findings by examining the effects of beliefs about alcohol content. Eighteen unrestrained men ate lunch 20 min after a preload of either water, an alcoholic beer or a non-alcoholic beer matched for energy content. Food intake was significantly less following the non-alcoholic beer than after alcohol or water, but when preload energy was included subjects had a higher overall energy intake on the day they consumed alcohol compared with both water and no-alcohol conditions. There were no significant differences in hunger or fullness ratings following the three drinks before or after the test meal, but the specific relationship between rated hunger and intake within the test meal was altered by the drink manipulation. The rate at which hunger decreased, and fullness increased, was slower after alcohol than after water or no-alcohol. The drinks did not alter the pleasantness of the test meal or increase hunger at the start of eating. When contrasted with previous work, these data confirm that alcohol consumed before lunch fails to reduce subsequent food intake, but also suggests that changes in rated appetite are influenced by beliefs about alcohol content.     

Motivational state modulates the hedonic value of food images differently in men and women

We investigated visual alimentary alliesthesia in non-fasted (N = 369) and fasted participants (N = 257) viewing photographs of food. Fasted participants were asked to not eat for 12 h before the session. Each participant was shown food and non-food images and rated each image on valence (i.e., pleasantness). The strongest evidence of alliesthesia was found in women. Fasting enhanced the pleasantness of food images for each of the food categories in women, although this alliesthesia effect was smaller in response to dessert foods compared to the less-pleasantly-rated food categories. In addition, non-fasting women exhibited significant positive correlations between hunger ratings and valence ratings of three of the five food categories. There was no significant difference in valence ratings of food between fasting vs. non-fasting men, but non-fasting men showed correlations between hunger and valence that were similar to those observed among the women. No evidence was found of hunger- or fasting-induced enhancement of hedonic ratings of non-foods in women or men, indicating the specificity of the alliesthesia effect for the food images only.     

Hunger and palatability: tracking ratings of subjective experience before, during and after the consumption of preferred and less preferred food

This study investigated the effects of palatability on ratings of hunger and other states, food preferences, bodily sensations, feelings and moods. Assessments of these were made before, during and after 12 healthy female subjects ate small equicaloric meals of either highly preferred of less preferred food. The sight of highly preferred food markedly increased subjects' rated desire to eat and this elevation was maintained during consumption. Hunger ratings were also elevated but only during consumption of the highly preferred food and to a smaller extent. There was no effect of the palatability of the food on rated feelings of fullness. Two hours after the meal, ratings of desire to eat and hunger were significantly higher after consumption of highly preferred food. This effect did not occur after eating less preferred food. Feelings of general positive affect, which followed the highly preferred meal, did not occur with the less preferred food. These findings throw light on the nature of the rated expression of hunger and on other terms used in describing dispositions to eat.     

Mood and carbohydrate cravings

The relationship between mood and carbohydrate cravings, and the possible role of gender in these associations, was investigated in a sample of 113 males and 138 female college students. Participants completed a Cravings Questionnaire and several mood inventories (profile of mood states, Beck Depression Inventory, and the Vitality Inventory) in groups of 25. Individuals classifying themselves as "carbohydrate cravers" reported foods rich in carbohydrates, and "protein cravers" reported protein-rich foods as being the ones they most strongly craved. Carbohydrate cravers reported feeling distressed prior to their cravings and satisfied, happy/good and relaxed following carbohydrate consumption. Protein cravers reported feeling anxious or hungry prior to their cravings and happy, normal, bored, and energetic following protein-rich food consumption. A non-significant correlation existed between "protein" cravers' ratings of craving intensity and mood, but a significant positive correlation existed between "carbohydrate" cravers' ratings of craving intensity and almost all mood scales assessed for both male and female "carbohydrate" cravers. The correlation between craving intensity and mood existed predominately with individuals who craved sweet carbohydrate-rich foods.     

Individual Differences in the Use of Pleasantness and Palatability Ratings

Previously we have suggested that individual subjects interpret the phrase "palatable food" in different ways. To test the consistency of the use of this term, 50 male volunteers consumed a simple lunch on two occasions, once with a more palatable food and once with a more bland version. Ratings of hunger, fullness, pleasantness and palatability were completed at the start and end of each meal. Overall, subjects ate slightly more of the palatable food. The difference in intake between conditions correlated with differences in pleasantness and palatability but not hunger at the start of eating. Rated pleasantness of the food declined between the start and end of the meal in most subjects, but changes in palatability were more variable, with a significant minority showing no change across the meal. Detailed analysis confirmed the existence of two populations of responses, one where pleasantness and palatability were synonymous, and one where palatability was rated as a constant property of a food. The existence of two interpretations of the term palatability in common English usage cautions against the use of this term as a reliable means of evaluating hedonic responses to foods in appetite studies.     

The effects on eating of dietary restraint,anxiety, and hunger

In this study a comparison was made between the amounts eaten by restrained and unrestrained eaters following an anxiety-induction procedure. Subjects' level of perceived hunger was assessed and the interactive effects on eating of anxiety and perceived hunger were examined. Results revealed a significant three-way interaction. Unrestrained subjects did not alter their eating in response to either anxiety or hunger. When relaxed, restrained subjects ate more when hungry than when not hungry. However, in restrained subjects, anxiety appeared to counteract the disinheriting effect of hunger, so that anxious hungry subjects ate less than relaxed hungry subjects and the same amount as relaxed subjects who were not hungry. © 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Meal-induced changes in tryptophan:LNAA ratio: effects on craving and binge eating

This study investigated the effects of meals varying in macronutrient composition on plasma tryptophan/large neutral amino acid (tryp:LNAA) ratios and subsequent appetite and mood in women defined as "food cravers." Nine women consumed one of each of a high protein, high carbohydrate and mixed meal on three separate days. Blood samples and appetite and mood ratings were taken before and at intervals up to 150 min after meal consumption. The first subsequent ad libitum food intake was recorded in diaries. The tryp:LNAA ratio increased significantly after the carbohydrate meal compared to protein and mixed meals. No significant correlations between change in tryp:LNAA ratio and mood or macronutrient intake at the ad libitum eating episode were observed. There was a negative correlation between tryp:LNAA ratio and desire to binge eat (p=0.03) and a trend towards a negative correlation between tryp:LNAA ratio and craving for carbohydrate-rich foods (p=0.07). Participants whose ad libitum eating episode was categorized as a binge had a trend (p=0.06) toward lower plasma tryp:LNAA ratio than those who did not binge. Regression analysis showed that the effects of change in tryp:LNAA ratio on desire to binge eat was independent of meal type and changes in insulin and glucose concentrations. These findings suggest that reducing plasma tryp:LNAA ratio, via consumption of a protein-rich meal, may mediate the desire to binge eat in susceptible women.