Digest

How yogurt can be a satisfying snack

External Influences on Food Intake

Despite the well developed internal physiological mechanisms that work to regulate appetite (see Yogurt Nutrition Digest 2), in societies where we are fortunate enough to have a plentiful food supply, the reality is that satiety is easily influenced by a range of external factors including our immediate environment. The sight, smell, taste and availability of food can simply be too tempting, or comforting, regardless of how full we are feeling. In addition, some people may have weaker satiety signals or be less sensitive to these signals, putting them at additional risk of overeating, and in turn weight gain (23). Awareness of these influences and developing strategies to better manage them, including making food choices that help promote internal satiety, is all part of skill development for healthy weight management. A study by Drapeau et al (24) showed that baseline satiety quotient scores tended to be negatively correlated with external hunger, anxiety and eating at night. The low satiety phenotype showed a lower cortisol response to the test meal, so stress could be involved in the low satiety phenotype. Globally, these results may help understanding why some individuals report weak appetite sensations and thus, have higher susceptibility to overeating

Influences of external factors on food intake

Influences of external factors on food intake

References:
  1. O’Rahilly S & Farooqi IS (2008). Human obesity: a heritable neurobehavioral disorder that is highly sensitive to environmental conditions. Diabetes. 57 (11): 2905-10.
  2. Drapeau V et al (2013). Behavioural and metabolic characterisation of the low satiety phenotype. Appetite 70: 67-72.

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