Bariatric surgery leads to short-term effects on sweet taste sensitivity and hedonic evaluation of fatty food stimuli

Mette Søndergaard Nielsen, Ida Ninett Skovgaard K Andersen, Belinda Lange, Christian Ritz, Carel W le Roux, Julie Berg Schmidt, Anders Mikael Sjödin, Wender L P Bredie

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26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of bariatric surgery on sweet taste sensitivity and the hedonic evaluation of sweet, savory, and fatty food stimuli as well as associations with weight loss and food preferences assessed at a buffet meal test.

Methods: The detection and recognition threshold for sweet taste and the hedonic rating of sweet, savory, and fatty food stimuli were assessed before and after a preoperative diet-induced weight loss and 6 weeks, 6 months, and 18 months after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) (n = 29).

Results: The detection threshold for sweet taste decreased after the diet-induced weight loss and 6 weeks after RYGB (both P ≤ 0.03). The hedonic rating of high-fat food stimuli decreased 6 weeks after RYGB and SG (all P ≤ 0.02). Changes in the hedonic rating of high-fat food stimuli were associated with increased preferences for high-fat foods at the buffet meal (P = 0.03) and tended to be associated with weight loss (P = 0.05). No changes were detected for sweet and savory food stimuli.

Conclusions: RYGB increased sweet taste sensitivity; however, this effect was already seen after the diet-induced weight-loss. RYGB and SG decreased the hedonic evaluation of high-fat food stimuli, but this effect did not translate into decreased preferences for high-fat food.

Original languageEnglish
JournalObesity
Volume27
Issue number11
Pages (from-to)1796-1804
Number of pages9
ISSN1930-7381
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

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© 2019 The Obesity Society.

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