Following a dietary pattern based on Dietary Guidelines for Americans may lead to reduced preference for sweet taste

Abstract

ObjectiveDietary intake of added sugars in the United States is significantly higher than what is recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) and by other health organizations. There is limited research on how reducing the intake of added sugars would affect or change taste perception related to sugar. Our objective was to determine if sweet taste threshold and sweet preference changes in response to a diet intervention based on the recommendations in the 2010 DGA compared to an intervention based on the typical American diet (TAD) as described by recent surveys of U.S. adults.MethodsData for this report is from an eight‐week controlled feeding trial. Overweight or obese women, with insulin resistance and/or dyslipidemia, aged 20–65 years were randomized into one of two diet groups: the DGA diet or the TAD. Detection taste threshold was determined using a three‐alternative‐forced choice method and sweet preference was measured using the Monell forced‐choice, paired‐comparison tracking procedure. Measurements were obtained prior to the dietary intervention at baseline (BL), and after the diet intervention (ADI) to evaluate changes in taste acuity and hedonic preference. Data were log transformed, and analysis of covariance was used to identify differences between the two diet groups. In addition, the change in acuity and hedonic preference was calculated as ADI‐BL. Wilcoxon's rank test was used to identify differences in these parameters between the two groups. This is an on‐going study, with more participant cohorts being added to reach n = 44.ResultsPreliminary results were generated for the first 16 women (Age: DGA ‐ 45.0, TAD‐42.5 y; BMI: DGA – 30.4, TAD – 33.0 kg/m2) who have completed the study. Usual energy intake (kcals), and percent‐added sugars or sweet‐food intake were not different at BL between DGA and TAD (p = 0.92, 0.63, 0.92, respectively). There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) between diets in the change in sweet threshold or sweet preference. The DGA intervention, however, resulted in a larger reduction in the level of preferred sweetness compared to the TAD diet, when controlling for BL preference (p = 0.03).ConclusionsConsuming a diet following the DGA may possibly lower preference for sweet foods when compared to a TAD. Further, data from the complete cohort will be used to add to this report upon study completion.Support or Funding InformationFunded by National Dairy Council and USDA, ARS CRIS project #2032 51530 022 00D