Food intake, hunger, and satiety after preloads in women with eating disorders

Food intake, food selection, macronutrient intake, sensory-specific satiety, and ratings of hunger and satiety were measured after high- and low-energy salad preloads (2414 kJ, or 172 kJ) or no preload to determine whether patients with eating disorders compensate appropriately for different energy intakes. Subjects were female patients with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of anorexia nervosa with bulimic features or bulimia nervosa, or non patient, normal-weight, nondieters (n = 9/group). At a self-selected lunch 30 min after the preloads, all of the groups reduced intake after the high-energy preload, with the bulimics showing the best compensation. The anorexics chose low-energy foods and in some conditions ate a smaller proportion of fat than did the other groups. The bulimics ate more high-energy foods than did the anorexics. The anorexics demonstrated sensory-specific satiety only after the high-energy salad and the bulimics only after the low-energy salad. Overall, these data suggest that while many of their responses to food are abnormal, patients with eating disorders have some capacity to respond to physiological hunger and satiety cues.