Dietary variety, energy regulation, and obesity.
Increased variety in the food supply may contribute to the development and maintenance of obesity. Thirty-nine studies examining dietary variety, energy intake, and body composition are reviewed. Animal and human studies show that food consumption increases when there is more variety in a meal or diet and that greater dietary variety is associated with increased body weight and fat. A hypothesized mechanism for these findings is sensory-specific satiety, a phenomenon demonstrating greater reductions in hedonic ratings or intake of foods consumed compared with foods not consumed. Nineteen studies documenting change in preference, intake, and hedonic ratings of food after a food has been eaten to satiation in animals and humans are reviewed, and the theory of sensory-specific satiety is examined. The review concludes with the relevance of oral habituation theory as a unifying construct for the effects of variety and sensory-specific satiety, clinical implications of dietary variety and sensory-specific satiety on energy regulation, and suggestions for future research.
Raynor
H A
HA
Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, New York 14214, USA.
Epstein
L H
LH
D000818:Animals; D001823:Body Composition; D002149:Energy Intake; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005518:Food Preferences; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D012528:Satiety Response; D013649:Taste