Awakening to the Taste of Food Among Restrained Women
Condition: Other Eating Disorders
MeSH terms: Feeding and Eating Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Energy-restricted diets often require dieting rules, which forced the dieter to eat according
      to cognitive norms, which increase his vulnerability to external food cues. Allowing the
      recognition of internal hunger and satiety cues by using conscious food tasting could be
      helpful among restrained eaters to facilitate an internalized regulation of food intake.

      The objectives of the proposed study are to investigate among restrained women whether
      conscious food tasting can influence 1) attitudes and behaviors associated with food and
      eating; 2) reliance on hunger and satiety signals; and 3) development of taste and olfactory
      memory.

      Females (n=50) will be randomly assigned to: 1) experimental group (conscious food tasting
      intervention) (n=24), or 2) control group (n=26). The conscious food tasting intervention
      will be conducted by a registered dietitian into groups of ten to twelve women during six
      weekly 2-hour workshops. Women in the control group will not receive any intervention.
      Measurements will be taken at baseline, at the end of the intervention period, and at 12-week
      post-intervention. Restraint Scale, Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire, Mindful Eating
      Questionnaire, Intuitive Eating Scale, Body-Esteem Scale and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale will
      measure attitudes and behaviors associated with food and eating as well as some aspects
      related to psychological functioning. The Intuitive Eating Scale and a snack-meal taste
      rating task (visual analogue scales) will assess internal hunger/satiety cues. Vocabulary
      used to describe the foods will be recorded from the snack-meal taste rating task and use to
      assess taste and olfactory memory. Sensory capabilities will be assessed by odour detection
      and identification test, and a taste detection test.

      The proposed study will provide a better understanding of the effects of conscious food
      tasting on eating attitudes and behaviors, which is relevant to dietetic practice as it could
      help to promote sustainable healthy eating habits.
    

Detailed description: 
      In the experimental group (n=24), the conscious food tasting intervention will be conducted
      by a registered dietitian into small groups of ten to twelve women during six weekly 2-hour
      workshops. Workshops will be taking place in a well-ventilated room to insure that there are
      no extraneous odours or noises that may hamper the activities involving senses. To enhance
      feeling of belonging to the group as well as the confidence within each participant, time
      will be allowed for participants' introduction at the beginning of the first workshop.
      Specific themes will be addressed during each of the six workshops. During the first and
      second workshops, theoretical notions about weight management and energy-restricted diets,
      restrained eating versus intuitive and mindful eating, appetite sensations, sensory-specific
      satiety and weight-related issues will be presented by the registered dietitian. The
      presentation will be interactive, so that discussion and questions will be foster throughout
      the workshops. From the third workshop, basic knowledge and activities related to sensory
      food perceptions will be introduced. Prior to food tasting activities, participants will be
      advised to avoid drinking coffee or eating chocolate and any other foods with a strong or
      persistent taste, and to avoid wearing perfumes, scented lotions and creams as all these
      conditions could affect sensory perceptions. During the third workshop, theoretical notions
      about taste qualities (sweet, salt, sour, bitter) will be firstly addressed. A taste activity
      will then be done using aqueous solutions containing different concentrations of a taste
      compound. The objective of this activity will be to let participants experience their own
      taste sensitivity level so that they can identify at which concentration level they can
      detect different tastes. During the fourth and fifth workshop, theoretical and practical
      notions about food tasting techniques will be addressed. The various roles played by other
      senses (i.e., sight, hearing, touch, smell) during food tasting will also be experienced by
      the participants using practical activities. For that purpose, various foods will be used
      such as herbs and spices, cheeses, fruits, chocolate and chips. In addition, one of the most
      difficult aspects of tasting evaluation is to find the right words that well-described food
      perception. Each participant will thus be guided by the registered dietitian and discuss
      about some of the terminology of tasting in order to find out appropriate terms they could be
      used to describe the tasted foods. A list of these descriptive words will then be created, so
      that they can have their own list of reference. At the end of each food tasting activities, a
      discussion will be led by the registered dietitian about appetite sensations, emotions and
      recollection of memories associated with the tasted foods. As enjoying eating involve more
      than sensory stimulation from the foods, the last workshop will discuss the cognitive, social
      and emotional aspects related to tasting and pleasure while eating (e.g. dichotomized
      thinking about healthy eating, eating with family and friends, and affective processes in
      eating behaviors) in order to integrate these eating-related aspect to a peaceful
      relationship with foods.

      In the waiting-list control group (n=26), women will be instructed to follow their usual
      lifestyle habits for the duration of the study. Over the study period, these women will not
      receive any form of contact from the research team, with the exception of post treatment
      testing sessions (T=2 and T=3), as performed in the experimental group. To control for
      potential confounding effects of other treatments, the investigators will ask to women from
      the waiting-list control group to report all consultations with health professionals and/or
      any forms of intervention that they received during the course of the study. After the final
      testing session at 12-week post-intervention (T=3), women from the control group will be
      invited to participate in the conscious food tasting intervention on a voluntary basis.
    

Intervention name(s): Conscious food tasting intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Six weekly 2-hour workshops
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Keywords: taste; mindful eating; intuitive eating; attitude; behavior