Neural and Metabolic Factors in Carbohydrate Reward

ConditionCarbohydrate Metabolism

Trial statusRecruiting

Trial phaseNot applicable

Trial typeInterventional

Biological sexAll

Age18-45

SponsorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

About this trial

Dietary factors contributed to nearly 50% of all cardiometabolic deaths in the US in 2012, making it one of the leading causes of preventable death in the US, second only to tobacco use. Human diets and food choices can't help but be influenced by the ubiquitous availability of processed foods of high-energy density and low nutrient content, consumption of which can lead to obesity, type II diabetes, heart disease, and other types of metabolic dysfunction. Surprisingly, food reinforcement does not rely on perceived energy density. Rather food reinforcement is associated with actual energy density and therefore, on an implicit knowledge of caloric content. That implicit knowledge must have a neural signature and a mechanism by which the gut communicates nutritive value to the brain. There is evidence, at least for fat and carbohydrates, that these pathways are separable, but terminate in a common neural structure, the dorsal striatum or caudate. This could be one mechanism by which modern processed foods high in both fat and carbohydrate are so sought after and readily consumed, In fact, when experimentally tested, fat and carbohydrate combinations were more reinforcing calorie for calorie than fat or carbohydrates alone and the level of reinforcement correlated with activity in reward- related brain areas. Beyond simple reinforcing value, it is known from the literature on drugs of abuse that the faster a drug is arrives at the brain, the higher it's abuse potential, however, little is known about how the kinetics of nutrient excursion influence food preference, choice, and brain activity. This project aims to test this specifically for carbohydrate reward.

Eligibility criteria

This trial accepts healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

BMI between 18.5-30 kg/m2

Not pregnant or planning to become pregnant during study participation

Residing in the Roanoke area and/or willing/able to attend sessions at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute

Able to speak and write in English

Disqualifiers

Current inhaled nicotine use

History of alcohol dependence.

Current or past diagnosis of diabetes or thyroid problems.

Taking medications known to influence study measures (including antiglycemic agents, thyroid medications, sleep medications)

Trial design

Design model

Crossover

Treatments tested in this trial

CS- Beverage
Other intervention
Conditioned Stimulus - (CS-): Flavored beverage solution with sweetness-matched sucralose. Participants will consume flavored beverage solutions sweetened with sucralose to match the sweetness of 110 calories of sucrose in 6 exposure sessions within 1 week. One exposure session will include pre- and post-consumption blood draws and indirect calorimetry measurement over a 2-hour period. The other 4 exposure sessions will occur at specified times outside the laboratory sessions. Subjective ratings of internal state (i.e., hunger, fullness, and thirst) will be collected throughout each exposure. Subjective ratings of liking and wanting of each beverage will also be assessed.
CS+Fast
Other intervention
(CS+): Flavored beverage solution with 110 calories of sucrose. Participants will consume flavored beverage solutions containing 110 calories of sucrose in 6 exposure sessions within 1 week. One exposure session will include pre- and post-consumption blood draws and indirect calorimetry measurement over a 2-hour period. The other 4 exposure sessions will occur at specified times outside the laboratory sessions. Subjective ratings of internal state (i.e., hunger, fullness, and thirst) will be collected throughout each exposure. Subjective ratings of liking and wanting of each beverage will also be assessed.
CS+Slow
Other intervention
(CS+): Flavored beverage solution with 110 calories of maltodextrin. Participants will consume flavored beverage solutions containing 110 calories of maltodexrin in 6 exposure sessions within 1 week.One exposure session will include pre- and post-consumption blood draws and indirect calorimetry measurement over a 2-hour period. The other 4 exposure sessions will occur at specified times outside the laboratory sessions. Subjective ratings of internal state (i.e., hunger, fullness, and thirst) will be collected throughout each exposure. Subjective ratings of liking and wanting of each beverage will also be assessed.

Treatment groups

64 Participants

are divided into 3 treatment groups

Group A: CS- FirstExperimental treatment 3 interventions

Group B: CS+Fast FirstExperimental treatment 3 interventions

Group C: CS+Slow FirstExperimental treatment 3 interventions

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

Change in preference- liking

Subjective ratings of liking of flavors used in the intervention will be assessed at baseline and after the intervention. The generalized Labeled Magnitude Scale will be used. The scale is anchored by descriptors of "Most Disliked Sensation Imaginable" and "Most Liked Sensation Imaginable" at the lower and upper ends, respectively. The score is determined by the place on the scale participants select (range of scale is 0-100). An increase in score from baseline to post-intervention indicates an increase in liking.

Time frame