Sweet Consumption and Subsequent Sweet Food Preferences and Intakes

This study will assess the effects of repeated sweet versus non-sweet food consumption on subsequent sweet and non-sweet food preferences and intakes.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Dietary Behaviour
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Dietary Instructions

Detailed Description

Participants will be randomized to receive instructions to either increase, decrease or make no change to sweet food consumption for 6 days, and impacts on food preferences and intakes will be assessed at baseline and after 1 week. Preferences for sweet and non-sweet foods will be assessed during a taste test at each assessment time, where six different foods will be rated. Sweet and non-sweet food consumption will also be measured at a subsequent breakfast at the assessment time. Buffet meals composed of sweet and non-sweet foods suitable for consumption at breakfast will be provided ad-libitum.

A subset of participants (selected at random) (10 participants randomized to increase sweet food consumption and 10 participants randomized to decrease sweet food consumption) will also be assessed via MRI and fMRI scanning to investigate brain structure and functional connectivity.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 104
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • US And Canada Only
    • Bournemouth, US And Canada Only, United Kingdom, BH12 5BB
      • Bournemouth University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. aged 18-65 years;
2. habitually consume breakfast;
3. able to provide consent and complete all study materials;
4. able to attend Bournemouth University for testing.

Exclusion criteria:

1. individuals who are pregnant or breastfeeding;
2. underweight (BMI <18.5);
3. have pre-existing clinical conditions such as diabetes mellitus, eating disorders, Crohn's disease and other illness's leading to participants receiving external nutritional advice and dietary restrictions;
4. have pre-existing medical conditions affecting swallow ability, taste and smell perception;
5. currently or within 3 months of starting the study are following a specific dietary programme (e.g.: Slimming World);
6. current smokers or have smoked within 3 months of the study start date.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Dietary Instructions: Increase sweet food consumption; Participants are asked to increase their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Participants will be provided with clear instructions, where sweet foods will be highlighted and additional means of increasing sweet food consumption will be offered.	Behavioral: Dietary Instructions; Dietary Instructions
Active Comparator: Dietary Instructions: Decrease sweet food consumption; Participants are asked to decrease their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Participants will be provided with clear instructions, where sweet foods will be highlighted and means of decreasing sweet food consumption will be offered.	Behavioral: Dietary Instructions; Dietary Instructions
Placebo Comparator: Dietary Instructions: Usual Diet; Participants are asked to retain their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet.	Behavioral: Dietary Instructions; Dietary Instructions

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Sweet Food Preferences	Preferences for various sweet foods/fluids, assessed using a taste test, where participants sample several sweet and non-sweet foods and rate them for pleasantness on a 100mm Visual Analogue Scale, from 0 to 100mm. Higher scores signify stronger preferences	Week 1
Sweet Food Choices	Selection of sweet foods/fluids at a given meal, assessed where participants can consume freely from a meal composed of sweet and non-sweet foods, and proportion of sweet foods consumed is measured as a percentage of weight consumed	Week 1

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Hunger and Thirst	Ratings of subjective perceptions, assessed using 100mm VAS from 0 (lower hunger) to 100 (higher hunger) mm	Week 1
Sweet Food Perceptions	Perceptions for various sweet foods/fluids, assessed using a taste test, where participants sample several sweet and non-sweet foods and rate them for intensity on a 100mm Visual Analogue Scale from 0 to 100mm. Higher scores signify stronger perceptions	Week 1
MRI Static Brain Scan (Subset of Participants Only)	Static brain scan gained from a 3-Tesla Siemens Magnetom Lumina scanner (Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany), used to investigate brain structure, where the anatomical structure (e.g. size, shape) of the brain, measured via surface area (mm squared), will be compared at baseline and week 1	Baseline to week 1
fMRI Composite Functional Brain Scan (Subset of Participants Only)	Composite fMRI functional scan to investigate brain functionality and connectivity in response to a 10 min cognitive task, will be gained from a 3-Tesla Siemens Magnetom Lumina scanner (Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany), where patterns of activity will be measured using blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast whole-brain functional images, acquired using a T2-weighted gradient-echo Echo Planar Imaging (EPI) sequence and a 32-channel head coil during a 10 min cognitive task, and will be compared at baseline and week 1 (for full details of this methodology see Yankouskaya A, et al., Biology, 2023, 12, 211.)	Baseline to week 1

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Bournemouth University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Katherine M Appleton, Bournemouth University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• This project is associated with Clinical Trails Registration: NCT03427658

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 31, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): December 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 3, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 3, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): January 5, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 26, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 9, 2025
• Last Verified: June 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: AppletonRSFC2022

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Anonymised study data will be available on completion of the trial from the PI
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: On study completion
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: On reasonable request
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No