title: Roux-en Y gastric bypass surgery reduces hedonic hunger and improves dietary habits in severely obese subjects.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many obese subjects suffer from an increased hedonic drive to consume palatable foods, i.e., hedonic hunger, and often show unfavorable dietary habits. Here, we investigated changes in the hedonic hunger and dietary habits after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-four severely obese patients were examined before and on average 15.9 ± 0.9 months after RYGB surgery with the Power of Food Scale (PFS), a questionnaire that reliably measures an individual's motivation to consume highly palatable foods but not actual consumptive behavior. Dietary habits were assessed by a food frequency questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After the RYGB procedure, patients showed markedly lower aggregated PFS scores and sub-domain scores related to generally available, physically present, as well as tasted foods than before the surgery (all P < 0.001). Changes in dietary habits after the surgery were characterized by a more frequent consumption of poultry, fish, eggs, and cooked vegetables (P < 0.008) and a less frequent consumption of chocolate (P < 0.048), cakes/biscuits/cookies (P = 0.09), and fruit juice/soft drinks (P = 0.08).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Data show a marked reduction of the hedonic drive to consume palatable food and beneficial changes in dietary habits characterized by an increased intake of protein-rich foods and vegetables and a reduced consumption of sugar-containing snacks and beverages after RYGB surgery. Based on these findings, it can be speculated that the reduction of the hedonic drive to consume palatable foods induced by RYGB surgery helps severely obese patients to establish healthier dietary habits.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Obesity Center, Kantonsspital St. Gallen, Heidener Strasse 11, CH-9400 Rorschach, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ullrich
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.forename: Britta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wilms
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thurnheer
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schultes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001069:Appetite Regulation; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D015390:Gastric Bypass / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D057181:Pleasure; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015431:Weight Loss