(P04-001-25) Associations Between Food Cravings, Eating Behaviors, and Lipid Metabolism During a 4-Week High-Fiber Diet

Objectives: Dietary fiber, by reducing food cravings and improving eating behaviors, may enhance lipid metabolism. We hypothesized that decreases in specific and total food cravings, disinhibition, and hunger, as well as an increase in restraint on a high-fiber (HiFi) diet would correlate positively with improved lipid biochemistries.

Methods: Adults with overweight/obesity were randomly assigned to consume a standard diet consisting of 25 g/d (HiFi) or 5 g/d (LowFi) of added pea fiber for 4 weeks (HiFi n = 13, BMI 30.1 ± 0.8 kg/m², 30.7 ± 2.7 y; LowFi n = 16, BMI 30.1 ± 0.7 kg/m², 32.3 ± 2.3 y; mean ± SEM). Subjects underwent a meal test visit at baseline and after 4 weeks, during which blood was drawn, and their food cravings and eating behaviors were assessed using the Food Cravings Inventory and Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire, respectively. Mixed model ANOVA, paired and independent t-tests were used to assess between and within group changes. Relationships between variables were examined with Pearson’s correlation.

Results: Average cravings for sweets (P = 0.015), carbohydrates (P = 0.002), and disinhibition (P = 0.045) decreased significantly for all subjects at week 4. There were no significant treatment or treatment by time interaction effects for any cravings or eating behavior variables (P > 0.05). Within-group analyses showed that cravings significantly reduced for sweets (P = 0.046) in the HiFi group and for carbohydrates (HiFi P = 0.027; LowFi P = 0.026) in both groups at week 4. Plasma triglyceride (TAG) concentrations decreased in the HiFi group (-12.9 mg/dL) while it increased in the LowFi group (8.4 mg/dL) at week 4; P = 0.048. In the HiFi group, a decrease in sweet cravings correlated positively with a reduction in plasma high-density lipoproteins (P = 0.027, r = 0.611). Furthermore, in the Low-Fi group, an increase in hunger (P = 0.046, r = -0.504) and a decrease in disinhibition (P = 0.025, r = -0.558), carbohydrates (P = 0.01, r = -0.622), and total cravings (P = 0.033, r = -0.534) correlated negatively with elevated plasma TAG concentrations.

Conclusions: Consuming at least 5 g/day of fiber reduces carbohydrate cravings but 25 g/day of fiber additionally reduces sweet cravings and improves plasma TAG. The correlation findings did not support our hypothesis.

Funding Sources: University of Missouri and NIH-K01- NHLBI