We Are Right About Moderation, Again!

Recently, researchers from the Oregon Research Institute published their new finding on the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and they found that frequent intake of ice-cream may reduce the rewarding feeling from intake of similar food products.

There were 151 healthy-weight adolescents with various ethnic backgrounds participating in this survey study. An fMRI test was used during visual stimuli and upon receipt of an ice-cream based milkshake (270 kcal, 13.5 g fat, and 28 g sugar per 150 mL) and a calorie-free tasteless solution to compare striatal responsivity. Percentage body fat was assessed and used as a dependent variable and covariate in fMRI analyses. Resting metabolic rate was measured. A food frequency questionnaire was filled out by the participants, inquires about the frequency of consumption of 60 specific food types in the past two-week period, including ice-cream. Also, the craving and liking of a variety of foods, including ice cream was assessed

The study shows that frequent ice-cream consumption was associated with reduced striatal response to receipt of an ice-cream based milkshake, which indicates the possibility that regular intake of an energy-dense food like ice-cream may reduce reward-region responsivity to that food or other similar foods. Another interesting finding from the study is that reduced striatal activation was correlated with frequency of ice cream consumption, but not with frequency of chocolate candy, cakes/cookies, hamburger, or French fry consumption or general fat-and-sugar-dense diets. Given the fact that both a chocolate milkshake and chocolate candy are palatable, fat-and-sugar-dense foods with similar flavors, while the fat and sugar content, food form, texture, and temperature of ice cream are most similar to the milkshake delivered in the scanner, the researchers suggests that it is the texture, not flavor, affects the expected satiation of foods.

Although it is not a randomized control study, part of the data is collected on site to provide more accuracy. In contrast of to what past research suggested, result of this study is independent of total energy intake and excess adipose tissue, which might be due to the limitation of subjects’ BMI range. Thus, further study with overweight and obese population is needed to confirm or reject the current result. Moreover, other than frequency, quantity of past ice-cream intake should also be assessed and compared in terms of its effect on striatal responsivity. To further confirm the result, more than one food that shares the same characteristic with ice-cream (high-fat, high-sugar, cold) should be introduced to obtain the same effect in future studies.

Despite of the few limitations of this study, I am grateful that we are probably right again about the idea of consuming everything in moderation. Now, we would even be able to feel better when asking our clients or patients to cut back on their ice-cream consumption, since you would be able to say: “Instead of making you feel worse as you believed, it may actually help you feel better and more rewarding when you do eat them.”