Additive effects of sensory-enhanced satiety and memory for recent eating on appetite

The sensory characteristics of a product have been shown to interact with actual nutrient content to generate satiety. Separately, cued recall of recent eating has also been shown to reduce food intake. Here we explore for the first time how these two effects interact, with the hypothesis that sensory enhancement of satiety might be mediated by more vivid memory of the earlier consumed item. On each of two test sessions, 119 women volunteers consumed a control drink (lemonade) on one morning and then one of two test drinks on the next day 30 min before an ad libitum lunch. The test drinks were equicaloric but one was noticeably thicker and creamier, and expected to generate stronger satiety. Just prior to the test lunch, participants were asked to recall either the test drink (test recall) or the drink from the previous day (control recall). Overall, lunch intake was significantly lower after the thicker and creamier (enhanced sensory ES) than thinner (low sensory: LS) test drink (p < 0.001, η² = 0.11) regardless of recall condition (p = 0.65, η² < 0.01), but was significantly lower after the test than control recall condition (p < 0.001, η² = 0.14). Rated hunger was lower after consuming the ES than LS drink both immediately after consumption (p < 0.001, η² = 0.11) and prior to the test lunch (p = 0.007, η² = 0.06), while rated hunger just before lunch tended to be lower after recalling the test than control drink (p = 0.052, η² = 0.03) regardless of the sensory characteristics (p = 0.27, η² = 0.01). Overall these data further demonstrate the power of 'sensory-enhanced satiety' and cued recall of earlier eating as methods to reduce acute food intake, but suggest these effects operate independently.