Visual stimulation with food pictures in the regulation of hunger hormones and nutrient deposition, a potential contributor to the obesity crisis

Abstract

Food cues affect hunger and nutritional choices. Omnipresent stimulation with palatable food contributes to the epidemics of obesity. The objective of the study was to investigate the impact of food cues on appetite-related hormones and to assess the functionality of the secreted hormones on macronutrient uptake in healthy subjects. Additionally, we aimed at verifying differences in the response of total and active ghrelin to stimulation with food pictures and to a meal followed by the stimulation. We were also interested in the identification of factors contributing to response to food cues. We recruited healthy, non-obese participants for two independent cross-over studies. During the first study, the subjects were presented random non-food pictures on the first day and pictures of foods on the second day of the study. Throughout the second study, following the picture session, the participants were additionally asked to drink a milkshake. Concentrations of blood glucose, triglycerides and hunger-related hormones were measured. The results showed that concentrations of several hormones measured in the blood are interdependent. In the case of ghrelin and gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP) as well as ghrelin and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), this cooccurrence relies on the visual cues. Regulation of total ghrelin concentration following food stimulation is highly individual and responders showed upregulated total ghrelin, while the concentration of active ghrelin decreases following a meal. Protein content and colour intensity of food pictures reversely correlated with participants' rating of the pictures. We conclude that observation of food pictures influences the concentration of several appetiterelated hormones. The close link of visual clues to physiological responses is likely of clinical relevance. Additionally, the protein content of displayed foods and green colour intensity in pictures may serve as a predictor of subjective attractiveness of the presented meal.

Eating Motives and Other Factors Predicting Emotional Overeating during COVID-19 in a Sample of Polish Adults

“…Therefore, in the present study, only some of the variables were selected. In line with previous studies, it was assumed that significant predictors of emotional overeating would be [ 10 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]: (a) demographic predictors: female gender and body mass index; (b) visual- and attitude-related predictors: liking, pleasure, visual appeal; (c) body- and health-related predictors: need and hunger, health, weight control; (d) emotion-related predictors: affect regulation, COVID-19-related stress.…”

“…Visual- and attitude-related eating motives are associated with a positive attitude towards eating which is based on the visual qualities of food and the act of liking and enjoying eating [ 24 ]. Research shows that the relationship between these predictors, BMI and emotional overeating will be positive [ 10 , 27 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 35 , 36 ]. The next group of eating motives—body- and health-related factors—is related to: a physiological need for energy, the state of hunger vs. satiety and the motivation to be healthy and maintain a balanced diet and a healthy weight [ 24 ].…”

Characteristics of Libido and Testosterone Concentration of Polled and Horned Bali Bulls after GnRH Injection

“…Hormone concentrations are closely related to external factors that can trigger an increase in testosterone concentrations such as the environment. High or low concentration of hormones are caused by sensory stimuli such as light (eyes), sound (ears), smell (nose), physical stimulation (hot and cold), livestock activity, stress (Duszka et al 2020;Kırgezen et al 2021), also testosterone increases in conditions of desire of mating (Rastrelli et al 2018).…”

Influence of food images with different macronutrient compositions on serum ghrelin levels: Analysis in healthy males

“…These pictures were of mixed foods with different calorie contents and macronutrient composites. 37 Irrespective of its macronutrient composition, an ingested meal loses its attractiveness in taste or appearance in favor of another F I G U R E 3 Insulin (A) and glucose (D) concentrations decreased after the picture presentations. The insulin values were significantly different in the intra-group comparison using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test (B).…”