Salivary habituation to food stimuli in successful weight loss maintainers, obese and normal-weight adults

Abstract

Objective: Research shows that slower habituation of salivary responses to food stimuli is related to greater energy intake and that obese (Ob) individuals habituate slower than those of normal weight (NW). No study has examined habituation rates in weight loss maintainers (WLMs) who have reduced from obese to normal weight, relative to those who are Ob or NW.

Design: Salivation to two baseline water trials and 10 lemon-flavored lollipop trials were studied in 14 WLMs, 15 Ob and 18 NW individuals comparable in age, gender and ethnicity. Linear mixed models were used to compare WLMs with Ob and NW groups.

Results: Salivation in the WLM and NW groups decreased significantly (for both P <0.005) across trials, indicative of habituation. Salivary responses in the Ob group did not habituate (P=0.46). When compared with Ob group, WLMs showed a quicker reduction in salivation (P<0.05). WLM and NW groups did not differ in habituation rate (P=0.49).

Conclusions: WLMs have habituation rates that are comparable to NW individuals without previous history of obesity, and show quicker habituation than those who are currently obese. These results suggest that physiological responses to food may 'normalize' with successful weight loss maintenance.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1

Change in salivary response to repeated presentations of a lemon-flavored lollipop stimulus (trial blocks 1–5) in weight loss maintainers (WLM), normal-weight (NW) and obese (Ob) participants across blocks of two trials.