TY - JOUR
T1 - Sweet taste and obesity
AU - Ribeiro, Gabriela
AU - Oliveira-Maia, Albino J.
N1 - Oliveira-Maia was supported by grants from the BIAL Foundation (176/10), and from Fundaçao ˜ para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) through a Junior Research and Career Development Award from the Harvard Medical School Portugal Program (HMSP/ICJ/0020/2011) and grant PTDC/MED-NEU/31331/2017; and is funded by a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 950357). Ribeiro was funded by doctoral fellowships from Universidade de Lisboa (BD/2015Call) and FCT (SFRH/BD/128783/2017).
PY - 2021/10
Y1 - 2021/10
N2 - For more than 50 years, there has been evidence for greater consumption of sweet- foods in overweight humans and animals, relative to those that have a normal weight. Furthermore, it has long been suggested that energy deficit resulting from dieting, while moving the individual from a higher weight set point, would result in heightened susceptibility to palatable tastants, namely to sweet tastants. This was the motivation behind the first studies comparing sweet taste perception between individuals with obesity and those of a normal weight. These studies, using direct measures of taste, have been characterized by significant methodological heterogeneity, contributing towards variability in results and conclusions. Nevertheless, some of these findings have been used to support the theory that patients with obesity have decreased taste perception, particularly for sweet tastants. A similar hypothesis has been proposed regarding evidence for reduced brain dopamine receptors in obesity and, in both cases, it is proposed that increased food consumption, and associated weight gain, result from the need to increase sensory and brain stimulation. However, the available literature is not conclusive on the association between obesity and reduced sweet taste perception, with both negative and contradictory findings in comparisons between individuals with obesity and normal weight control subjects, as well as within-subject comparisons before and after bariatric surgery. Nevertheless, following either Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy, there is evidence of changes in taste perception, particularly for reward-related measures of sweet tastants, that should be further tested and confirmed in large samples, using consensual methodology.
AB - For more than 50 years, there has been evidence for greater consumption of sweet- foods in overweight humans and animals, relative to those that have a normal weight. Furthermore, it has long been suggested that energy deficit resulting from dieting, while moving the individual from a higher weight set point, would result in heightened susceptibility to palatable tastants, namely to sweet tastants. This was the motivation behind the first studies comparing sweet taste perception between individuals with obesity and those of a normal weight. These studies, using direct measures of taste, have been characterized by significant methodological heterogeneity, contributing towards variability in results and conclusions. Nevertheless, some of these findings have been used to support the theory that patients with obesity have decreased taste perception, particularly for sweet tastants. A similar hypothesis has been proposed regarding evidence for reduced brain dopamine receptors in obesity and, in both cases, it is proposed that increased food consumption, and associated weight gain, result from the need to increase sensory and brain stimulation. However, the available literature is not conclusive on the association between obesity and reduced sweet taste perception, with both negative and contradictory findings in comparisons between individuals with obesity and normal weight control subjects, as well as within-subject comparisons before and after bariatric surgery. Nevertheless, following either Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy, there is evidence of changes in taste perception, particularly for reward-related measures of sweet tastants, that should be further tested and confirmed in large samples, using consensual methodology.
KW - Bariatric surgery
KW - Obesity
KW - Psychophysics
KW - Reward-related feeding behavior
KW - Taste perception
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100988716&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ejim.2021.01.023
DO - 10.1016/j.ejim.2021.01.023
M3 - Review article
C2 - 33593659
AN - SCOPUS:85100988716
SN - 0953-6205
VL - 92
SP - 3
EP - 10
JO - European Journal Of Internal Medicine
JF - European Journal Of Internal Medicine
ER -