Evidence that carbohydrate-to-fat ratio and taste, but not energy density or NOVA level of processing, are determinants of food liking and food reward

Peter J. Rogers*, Yeliz Vural, Niamh Berridge-Burley, Chloe Butcher, Elin Cawley, Ziwei Gao, Abigail Sutcliffe, Lucy Tinker, Xiting Zeng, Annika N. Flynn, Jeffrey M. Brunstrom, J. C. Brand-Miller

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This virtual (online) study tested the common but largely untested assumptions that food energy density, level of processing (NOVA categories), and carbohydrate-to-fat (CF) ratio are key determinants of food reward. Individual participants (224 women and men, mean age 35 y, 53% with healthy weight, 43% with overweight or obesity) were randomised to one of three, within-subjects, study arms: energy density (32 foods), or level of processing (24 foods), or CF ratio (24 foods). They rated the foods for taste pleasantness (liking), desire to eat (food reward), and sweetness, saltiness, and flavour intensity (for analysis averaged as taste intensity). Against our hypotheses, there was not a positive relationship between liking or food reward and either energy density or level of processing. As hypothesised, foods combining more equal energy amounts of carbohydrate and fat (combo foods), and foods tasting more intense, scored higher on both liking and food reward. Further results were that CF ratio, taste intensity, and food fibre content (negatively), independent of energy density, accounted for 56% and 43% of the variance in liking and food reward, respectively. We interpret the results for CF ratio and fibre in terms of food energy-to-satiety ratio (ESR), where ESR for combo foods is high, and ESR for high-fibre foods is low. We suggest that the metric of ESR should be considered when designing future studies of effects of food composition on food reward, preference, and intake.

Original languageEnglish
Article number107124
JournalAppetite
Volume193
Early online date18 Nov 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2024

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was funded by the School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, UK . This funder played no direct role in influencing the nature of the research or the decision to submit this article for publication.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Research Groups and Themes

  • Nutrition and Behaviour
  • Physical and Mental Health
  • Health and Wellbeing (Psychological Science)

Keywords

  • Energy density
  • Food composition
  • Food reward
  • Liking
  • Satiety
  • Ultra-processed foods

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