title: The control of food intake of free-living humans: putting the pieces back together.
abstract: The control of food intake has been studied using reductionism; by separately investigating environmental, physiological, and genetic variables. The general model of intake regulation attempts to reassemble the pieces into an organized whole. It postulates that intake is influenced by sets of both physiological factors which have negative feedback loops to intake and environmental factors which do not. Data and behavioral genetic analysis on a number of environmental, psychological, dietary, and social variables demonstrate that they have large impacts on the intake of free-living humans in their everyday environments and their magnitude and impact on intake are influenced by heredity. Recent evidence of built environment influences on activity and intake further indicate the profound influence of environmental circumstances on both intake and expenditure. A computer simulation of the general model of intake regulation demonstrates that the model predicts different maintained levels of intake and body weight depending upon the external environment and that change in the environment can produce new sustained levels. It is suggested that eating is influenced by a myriad of physiological and non-physiological factors and that total intake results from the integral of their influences. It is concluded that recombining the components broken down in the reductionistic process results in a functional whole that can well describe human behavior in natural environments. The paper represents an invited review by a symposium, award winner or keynote speaker at the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior [SSIB] Annual Meeting in Portland, July 2009.
authors.affiliation: College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77341, United States. jdecastro@shsu.edu
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: de Castro
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004435:Eating / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D004777:Environment; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological
references.citation: Am J Clin Nutr. 1991 Aug;54(2):291-5
references.pmid: 1858692
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1993 Apr;53(4):777-82
references.pmid: 8511185
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2000 Jan;68(3):271-7
references.pmid: 10716535
references.citation: Metabolism. 1992 Jul;41(7):744-53
references.pmid: 1619993
references.citation: Am J Epidemiol. 1998 Jun 1;147(11):1081-6
references.pmid: 9620052
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1999 Aug;67(2):249-58
references.pmid: 10477057
references.citation: Epidemiol Rev. 2007;29:129-43
references.pmid: 17533172
references.citation: Milbank Q. 2009 Mar;87(1):123-54
references.pmid: 19298418
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1988;43(2):159-65
references.pmid: 3212051
references.citation: Eur J Clin Nutr. 1991 Dec;45(12):569-81
references.pmid: 1810719
references.citation: J Nutr. 2003 Mar;133 Suppl 3:895S-920S
references.pmid: 12612176
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1986;38(1):25-9
references.pmid: 3786499
references.citation: Am J Clin Nutr. 1989 Aug;50(2):237-47
references.pmid: 2756911
references.citation: J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Nov;93(11 Suppl 1):S37-50
references.pmid: 18987269
references.citation: Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 1988;58(1):119-34
references.pmid: 3384575
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2000 Aug-Sep;70(3-4):343-50
references.pmid: 11006433
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 1997 Jan;72(1):196-206
references.pmid: 9008381
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1987;40(4):437-46
references.pmid: 3628541
references.citation: Am J Clin Nutr. 1992 Jul;56(1):29-35
references.pmid: 1609757
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1999 Apr;66(2):223-32
references.pmid: 10336148
references.citation: JAMA. 2001 Sep 12;286(10):1195-200
references.pmid: 11559264
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1995 Sep;58(3):551-8
references.pmid: 8587964
references.citation: Br J Nutr. 2009 Oct;102(8):1228-37
references.pmid: 19650955
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2006 Jan 30;87(1):192-8
references.pmid: 16310814
references.citation: Am J Clin Nutr. 1989 Feb;49(2):320-5
references.pmid: 2916451
references.citation: Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2002 Aug;26(5):581-95
references.pmid: 12367591
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1995 Feb;57(2):287-95
references.pmid: 7716205
references.citation: Appetite. 1994 Oct;23(2):179-92
references.pmid: 7864611
references.citation: Eur J Clin Nutr. 1997 Dec;51(12):856-63
references.pmid: 9426361
references.citation: J Psychopharmacol. 1999;13(4 Suppl 1):S5-9
references.pmid: 10667450
references.citation: Eur J Clin Nutr. 2003 Mar;57(3):455-63
references.pmid: 12627183
references.citation: BMJ. 1995 Oct 14;311(7011):986-9
references.pmid: 7580640
references.citation: Am J Clin Nutr. 1990 Sep;52(3):421-5
references.pmid: 2393004
references.citation: JAMA. 1999 Oct 27;282(16):1519-22
references.pmid: 10546690
references.citation: J Physiol. 1966 Jan;182(1):144-9
references.pmid: 5937408
references.citation: J Physiol (Paris). 1968 Mar-Apr;60(2):143-54
references.pmid: 5675107
references.citation: Nutr Rev. 2001 Aug;59(8 Pt 1):247-58
references.pmid: 11518179
references.citation: Eur J Clin Nutr. 1991 Dec;45(12):583-99
references.pmid: 1810720
references.citation: Nutrition. 2004 Sep;20(9):821-38
references.pmid: 15325695
references.citation: Br J Nutr. 1997 Jun;77(6):833-51
references.pmid: 9227182
references.citation: Am J Clin Nutr. 2001 Jun;73(6):1010-8
references.pmid: 11382653
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1993 Oct;54(4):633-9
references.pmid: 8248339
references.citation: J Pers. 1996 Sep;64(3):577-91
references.pmid: 8776880
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1985 Sep;35(3):329-35
references.pmid: 4070404
references.citation: Br J Nutr. 2007 Nov;98(5):1077-83
references.pmid: 17537291
references.citation: Am J Clin Nutr. 1998 Mar;67(3 Suppl):535S-541S
references.pmid: 9497166
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 1986 Mar;99(2):247-62
references.pmid: 3515384
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1992 Jan;51(1):121-5
references.pmid: 1741437
references.citation: Appetite. 1989 Apr;12(2):83-94
references.pmid: 2764557
references.citation: Nature. 2000 Apr 6;404(6778):601-4
references.pmid: 10766242
references.citation: J Nutr. 1998 Jan;128(1):61-7
references.pmid: 9430603
references.citation: Nutr Res. 2001 Jul;21(7):935-945
references.pmid: 11446977
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1981 Oct;27(4):621-3
references.pmid: 7323164
references.citation: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1999 Nov;31(11 Suppl):S509-14
references.pmid: 10593520
references.citation: BMJ. 1990 Mar 17;300(6726):708-12
references.pmid: 2386561
references.citation: Nutrition. 2001 Sep;17(9):713-20
references.pmid: 11527657
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2005 Sep 15;86(1-2):32-45
references.pmid: 16115659
references.citation: Science. 1998 May 29;280(5368):1371-4
references.pmid: 9603719
references.citation: Nutrition. 2005 Apr;21(4):446-55
references.pmid: 15811764
references.citation: Appetite. 1990 Oct;15(2):89-101
references.pmid: 2268142
references.citation: J Physiol. 1975 Feb;245(1):209-25
references.pmid: 1127608
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1993 Oct;54(4):677-87
references.pmid: 8248345
references.citation: J Nutr. 2004 Feb;134(2):335-41
references.pmid: 14747669
references.citation: Annu Rev Psychol. 2008;59:55-92
references.pmid: 18154499
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2004 Jul;81(5):765-71
references.pmid: 15234182
references.citation: J Nutr. 2004 Jan;134(1):104-11
references.pmid: 14704301