Clinical trial NCT02827318: Eating Disinhibition and Vagal Tone and the Postprandial Response to Glycaemic Load
Official title: Eating Disinhibition and Vagal Tone Moderate the Postprandial Response to Glycaemic Load: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Hunger
Keywords: Blood glucose
Lead sponsor: Swansea University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2016-07-11
Enrollment: 66
Sex: FEMALE
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 30
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Reducing the glycaemic load (GL) of the diet may benefit appetite control but its utility is complicated by psychological influences on eating. Disinhibited behaviour, a risk factor for overconsumption, is characterized by reduced prefrontal cortex activity, which in turn directly modulates vagal tone; a phenomenon inversely associated with blood glucose (BG) and insulin levels. This double blind randomised controlled trial explores the influence of disinhibited eating and vagal tone (heart rate variability) on the postprandial response to GL and hunger.

Detailed description: There is growing recognition that lowering the glycaemic load of the diet might reduce a range of cardiovascular risk factors such as raised plasma triglycerides, HbA1c and C reactive protein and aid in body weight regulation. A proposed mechanism includes higher satiety and prolonged satiation by virtue of improved postprandial metabolic control, although, whether lower GL meals result in greater weight loss or increased satiety is still a matter of debate. One matter complicating the issue is that the desire to consume food may be driven by psychological factors; food reward centres in the brain may override hormonal regulation of food intake. Amongst psychological factors disinhibition has the largest and most consistent body of empirical data that associates it with weight gain although the mechanisms involved are unknown. This study will investigate whether, irrespective of BMI or habitual diet, disinhibited eaters have greater glycaemic excursions following a high glycaemic load drink and whether this predicts subsequent satiation.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Young healthy adults who scored either high or low on the Three factor eating questionnaire disinhibition subscale

Exclusion Criteria:

Participants were excluded if they

* had a cardiovascular or metabolic disorder
* gastrointestinal problems
* were pregnant
* had a current diagnosis of a mood or eating disorder
* and/or were taking medications or herbal supplements to manage body weight or control appetite

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in blood glucose
timeFrame: From baseline to 30 minutes
measure: Change in blood glucose
timeFrame: from 30 to 150minutes
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Hunger
timeFrame: 30, 150 minutes
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Swansea
country: United Kingdom
facility: Swansea University
state: West Glamorgan
Study officials:
References:
citation: Young HA, Watkins H. Eating disinhibition and vagal tone moderate the postprandial response to glycemic load: a randomised controlled trial. Sci Rep. 2016 Oct 20;6:35740. doi: 10.1038/srep35740.