Sweet Food Preferences and Associated Appetite Regulatory Mechanisms

Obesity rates have increased globally alongside intake of palatable, energy-dense foods. Sweet preferring individuals display increased energy intake, experiencing greater risk of developing obesity. Sweet preferences require study to illuminate potential barriers to successful weight loss and responses to sweet foods reformulated with high intensity sweeteners (HIS). The following thesis presents exploratory analyses of two randomised clinical trials investigating; i) the stability of sweet preferences, ii) the relationship between baseline sweet preferences and eating behaviour traits, iii) comparison of two differing dietary weight loss protocols on sweet related outcomes, iv) the impact of acute and repeated consumption of HIS and sucrose sweetened products on subsequent sweet preferences and eating behaviours and finally, v) an exploration of the potential effect of sweet liker phenotypes on the impact of acute and repeated consumption of HIS and sucrose sweetened products on subsequent preferences and eating behaviours. Results showed; i) sweet food preferences were demonstrated to be stable across a period of weight loss, ii) participants with overweight/obesity presented with greater scores on eating behaviour traits involving a loss of control around food, iii) the method of dietary weight loss did not impact outcomes, iv) there was no difference in sucrose and HIS products on subsequent sweet food preferences and v) the reduction in sweet wanting after consuming a sweet food differs between sweet phenotype groups. It is concluded that sweet preferences are a stable trait that does not change during weight loss, and reformulated sweet foods may facilitate a reduction in sugar and energy density whilst maintaining consumer palatability.