UC Davis

Research on eating behavior is needed to improve our understanding of the complex factors that shape our diets and nutritional intakes, especially with the high prevalence of nutrition-related metabolic diseases and disordered eating. Among the various factors that influence eating behavior, the relationship between diet and appetite regulation is not fully understood. More data is needed on the interaction between dietary intake, appetite-related behaviors, and other biochemical and cognitive factors that have been shown to impact appetite and metabolism. The research presented in this dissertation aims to address this need by utilizing data from a cross-sectional nutritional phenotyping study of healthy adults. First, I examined the relationship between cognitive restraint and disinhibition with other food-related behaviors, and assessed the association of these behavior constructs with self-reported dietary intake. Results indicate that cognitive restraint was associated with food choice motivated by health, natural content, and ethical concern in the context of vegetable consumption and dietary quality in males, but not females. Next, I assessed whether subjective appetite response to a high-fat, high-sugar meal challenge was influenced by food rewards, eating behavior constructs, stress, or response of appetite-related hormones. The findings from this analysis suggest that an individual’s subjective appetite response was not biased by their liking or wanting of high-fat, sweet foods, nor by their appetite-related hormone responses and behaviors. Lastly, we identified various physiological, cognitive, and biochemical factors that characterized participants based on dairy food consumption. Participants that habitually consumed more than 2 cup equivalents of dairy foods per day were distinguished by higher daily caloric intake, lower response inhibition, and decreased ghrelin and lipid mediators. In all, these studies illuminate the complex relationship between diet and appetite regulation, as well as the need for comprehensive models of appetite to determine how key factors work together to modulate eating behavior.