Specific food structures supress appetite through reduced gastric emptying rate

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which gastric layering and retention of a meal could be used to reduce appetite using the same caloric load. Liquid (control) and semi-solid (active) meals were produced with the same protein, fat, carbohydrate, and mass. These were fed to 10 volunteers on separate days in a crossover study, and subjective appetite ratings, gastric contents, and plasma cholecystokinin (CCK) were assessed over a period of 3 h. The active meal showed food boluses in the stomach persisting for ~45 min, slower emptying rates, and lower plasma CCK levels over the first hour. After the first hour, both gastric emptying rates and plasma CCK levels were similar for both systems and slightly increased compared with the unfed situation. Despite the lower plasma CCK levels for the active meal over the first hour, this meal reduced appetite more than the control meal over the 3 h of the study. For a moderately increased plasma CCK level in the fed state, appetite was correlated with the volume of gastric contents rather than gastric emptying rates or plasma CCK. This suggests that enhanced gastric retention was the key factor in decreasing appetite and was probably mediated by a combination of intestinal nutrient sensing and increased viscosity in the stomach.

Keywords: appetite; cholecystokinin; dairy food structure; gastric retention.

Figures

Fig. 1.

Visual-analog scale (VAS) score data for hunger (A), fullness (B), and thirst (C) for the control (broken line) and active (solid line) meals. Mean and SE values are shown.

Fig. 2.

A: blood plasma concentrations of CCK measured before and after consumption of the control (broken line) and active (solid line) meals. B: two groups of controls: those showing a significant increase in CCK at 30 min (n = 5; broken line) and those that did not (n = 4; solid line). Mean and SE values are shown in both graphs.

Fig. 3.

MRI images of the active meal in the stomach (outlined) 5 min after consumption (A) and the control meal in the stomach (outlined) 25 min after consumption (B).

Fig. 4.

A: mean volumes of gastric contents as a function of time before and after consumption of the control (broken line) and active (solid line) meals. B: the gastric emptying rates (derivatives) calculated from the individual volume data. The data are the mean and SE values.