Effects of different fats on postprandial appetite responses: a randomised crossover trial

Abstract

Overconsumption of fat is considered a major driver of the prevalence of obesity globally. While fat type and emulsification have been suggested to play roles in appetite control, very limited data exist. This study aimed to investigate the impacts of type and emulsification of fat on postprandial appetite responses. Sixteen healthy subjects participated in a 4-arm, randomised, crossover study. The net iAUC of hunger visual analogue scales (VAS) (mean ± SE) was observed higher with emulsified fat (−512 ± 137 cm × 300 min) than with non-emulsified fat (−785 ± 133 cm × 300 min) (p < 0.05), but the difference became insignificant over time. Compared to olive oil, coconut oil resulted in higher fullness VAS iAUC (olive oil: 1369 ± 306 cm × 600 min; coconut oil: 1786 ± 311 cm × 600 mi, p < 0.05). Findings from this study support the potential effects of fat in appetite regulation.

Keywords:

• Appetite
• fat
• fatty acid
• emulsification
• hunger
• fullness

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the study volunteers for their participation. Also, the authors thank Shweta Sunil Singh for her contribution to the test meal preparation.

Authors’ contribution

JEK was involved in the conceptualisation, funding acquisition, formulating the research question, designing the study, and reviewing and editing writing of the study. YY was involved in designing and carrying out the study, analysing the data, interpreting the findings, and original draft writing of the study. HMG was involved in carrying out the study and reviewing and editing writing of the study.

Disclosure statement

All authors have accepted full responsibility of this manuscript and have approved of the final version of the manuscript. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by Industry Alignment Fund (Pre-Positioning): Programme Food Structure Engineering for Nutrition, [grant number: H18/01/a0/D11]. The funder had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this article.