title: Effect of flavour of liquid Ensure diet supplement on energy intake in male SD rats.
abstract: Outbred male Sprague-Dawley rats were provided with one of the four flavours of the liquid diet, Ensure, in addition to chow pellets, to examine whether differences in flavour lead to differences in energy intake i.e. degree of over-consumption. For half the rats, the Ensure supplement was provided for 14 days and then withdrawn for the final 8 days of the study, whereas the remaining animals were allowed to consume Ensure for 22 days. All four flavours of Ensure, chocolate, vanilla, coffee and asparagus, induced a sustained increase in daily energy intake of approximately 15%. There was an effect of flavour on initial consumption of the Ensure diet, with coffee and asparagus flavours being consumed less avidly than vanilla or chocolate. However, this effect was short-lived. Overall, there was no effect of flavour on body weight gain, energy intake from Ensure, total energy intake, body composition, or measured blood hormones and metabolites. Withdrawal of Ensure resulted in reductions in body weight gain, total energy intake, fat but not lean tissue mass, and concentrations of blood leptin, non-esterified fatty acids and triglycerides, but there was no effect of the flavour of Ensure previously supplied on any of these parameters. The ability of the liquid diet, Ensure, to stimulate long-term caloric over-consumption is not due to its flavouring. Rather, other attributes of Ensure must be more important, such as its intrinsic flavour, liquid formulation, macronutrient composition, and ease of ingestion, digestion and absorption.
authors.affiliation: Division of Obesity and Metabolic Health, Rowett Research Institute, Aberdeen Centre for Energy Regulation and Obesity (ACERO), Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9SB, Scotland, United Kingdom. Z.Archer@rowett.ac.uk
authors.forename: Zoe A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Archer
authors.forename: Yvonne A
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: D Vernon
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Rayner
authors.forename: R James
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Stubbs
authors.forename: Julian G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Mercer
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001786:Blood Glucose; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000187:drug effects*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000097:blood; D005421:Flavoring Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005526:Food, Formulated; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013649:Taste / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D005227:Fatty Acids; D005421:Flavoring Agents; D007328:Insulin; C082131:Ensure formulated food