The End of Overeating is a book by Dr. David Kessler, who served as dean of Yale Medical School and chairman of the FDA. This post has some notes from the book that describe some of the research studies cited in the book.
• A study using food diaries showed that people who gained weight ate an average of almost 400 calories a day more than a comparison group.
• A study showed that animals ate far beyond the point of satiety when a region of their hypothalamus was stimulated.
• A study showed that people preferred foods that mixed fat and sugar, compared to low-fat sugary foods or high-fat low-sugar foods.
• A study showed that rats fed a diet of supermarket foods weighted significantly more than rats who were fed bland food.
• A study found that people ate 44 percent more food at meals they rated a 7 out of a scale from 1 to 7.
• A study showed that both hungry and non-hungry animals ran towards a sugary cereal at the same speed.
• A study showed that rats worked harder to get a higher concentration of sucrose.
• A study showed that animals are willing to work almost as hard to get a mix of fat and sugar as they are willing to work to get cocaine.
• A study showed that rats preferred locations where they had previously eaten foods high in sugar and fat.
• A study found that animals ate less chocolate after they were injected with the opioid antagonist naltrexone.
• The combination of sucrose, chocolate, and alcohol releases the highest levels of dopamine.
• Neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex activate in response to rewarding foods.
• A study where people were given high-sugar high-fat snacks for five consecutive mornings demonstrated that they wanted something sweet at the same time each morning on subsequent days.
• A study showed that monkeys had elevated dopamine activity when anticipating access to juice.
• A study showed that animals did not have a diminished dopamine response even after being exposed to a chocolate milkshake for a prolonged period of time.
• A study involving exposure to a highly palatable food each day for eight weeks demonstrated no evidence of habituation.
• Experiments show that some people rate their hunger levels higher halfway through their meals as compared to before they started to eat.
• A study showed that people ate more of the food with which they had been primed.
• A study showed that people had greater activity in reward pathways in response to a milkshake after they had been primed with depressing information.
• A study showed that obese women consumed significantly more throughout the day compared to women who were not obese.
• A study showed that women who reported that they ate beyond satiation nearly every day were much more likely to be obese.
• A study showed that obese women were consistently more likely to work harder for food than for other prizes.
• A study showed that 50 percent of obese participants and 30 percent of overweight participants displayed traits of conditioned hypereating, compared to only 17 percent of those who were lean.
• A study demonstrated that people who scored higher on a scale measuring conditioned hypereating reported that the odor of a chocolate milkshake became more pleasing over time.
• A study showed that people with high scores on a measure of conditioned hypereating exhibited an enhanced level of neural activity in response to a chocolate odor.
• A study showed that people who were overweight ate the same number of crackers whether or not they had first eaten a sandwich, whereas thin people ate fewer crackers after eating a sandwich first.
• A study showed that children of obese mothers were more likely to eat snacks even when they were full.
• A study found that by the 1990s, children were compensating for only about 45 percent of added calories with extra activity (compared to children in the 1980s who compensated for about 90 percent of extra calories).
• A study showed that five-year-old girls reduced their consumption of other foods by 80 percent to compensate for added calories, compared to a reduction of only 30 percent by age eleven.
• Protein reduces hunger since it empties from the stomach at 4 calories per minute. Fat empties from the stomach at only 2 calories per minute, so it can also increase satiety (but only if eaten slowly).
