Factors That Determine the Responses to Meal Ingestion: Deconditioning of Acquired Food Aversion
Factors That Determine the Responses to Meal Ingestion: Deconditioning of Acquired Food Aversion
Background. Aversive conditioning impairs the rewarding value of a comfort meal.
Our aim is to demonstrate the potential effect of deconditioning to reverse aversive conditioning and restore the hedonic postprandial response.
Methods: A sham-controlled, randomised, parallel, single-blind study will be performed on 12 healthy women (6 per group). The rewarding value of a comfort meal will be measured at initial exposure, after aversive conditioning (masked administration of the same meal with a high-fat content) and after a deconditioning intervention (unmasking the aversive conditioning paradigm in the deconditioning group vs sham intervention in the control group). Digestive well-being (primary outcome) will be measured every 10 min before and 60 min after ingestion using graded scales. The effect of deconditioning (change from aversive conditioning to deconditioning) will be compared to sham deconditioning in the control group.
Expected results: The comfort meal at first exposure will induce a pleasant postprandial experience, which will be impaired by aversive conditioning; this effect will be reverted by deconditioning and the hedonic value of the comfort meal will be restored.
Inclusion Criteria:
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Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria: