Trial Outcomes & Findings for Sweet Consumption and Subsequent Sweet Food Preferences and Intakes (NCT NCT05672017)

Results Overview

Preferences for various sweet foods/fluids, assessed using a taste test, where participants sample several sweet and non-sweet foods and rate them for pleasantness on a 100mm Visual Analogue Scale, from 0 to 100mm. Higher scores signify stronger preferences

Recruitment status

COMPLETED

Study phase

NA

Target enrollment

104 participants

Primary outcome timeframe

Week 1

Results posted on

2025-06-26

Participant Flow

Participant milestones

Participant milestones
Measure	Dietary Instructions: Increase Sweet Food Consumption Participants are asked to increase their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Participants will be provided with clear instructions, where sweet foods will be highlighted and additional means of increasing sweet food consumption will be offered. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions	Dietary Instructions: Decrease Sweet Food Consumption Participants are asked to decrease their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Participants will be provided with clear instructions, where sweet foods will be highlighted and means of decreasing sweet food consumption will be offered. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions	Dietary Instructions: Usual Diet Participants are asked to retain their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions
Overall Study STARTED	40	43	21
Overall Study COMPLETED	40	43	21
Overall Study NOT COMPLETED	0	0	0

Reasons for withdrawal

Withdrawal data not reported

Baseline Characteristics

Race and Ethnicity were not collected from any participant.

Baseline characteristics by cohort

Baseline characteristics by cohort
Measure	Dietary Instructions: Increase Sweet Food Consumption n=40 Participants Participants are asked to increase their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Participants will be provided with clear instructions, where sweet foods will be highlighted and additional means of increasing sweet food consumption will be offered. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions	Dietary Instructions: Decrease Sweet Food Consumption n=43 Participants Participants are asked to decrease their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Participants will be provided with clear instructions, where sweet foods will be highlighted and means of decreasing sweet food consumption will be offered. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions	Dietary Instructions: Usual Diet n=21 Participants Participants are asked to retain their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions	Total n=104 Participants Total of all reporting groups
Age, Continuous	24.1 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 6.4 • n=40 Participants	25.3 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 6.7 • n=43 Participants	20.6 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 1.5 • n=21 Participants	23.9 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 6 • n=104 Participants
Sex: Female, Male Female	29 Participants n=40 Participants	30 Participants n=43 Participants	16 Participants n=21 Participants	75 Participants n=104 Participants
Sex: Female, Male Male	11 Participants n=40 Participants	13 Participants n=43 Participants	5 Participants n=21 Participants	29 Participants n=104 Participants
Race and Ethnicity Not Collected	—	—	—	0 Participants Race and Ethnicity were not collected from any participant.
Region of Enrollment United Kingdom	40 participants n=40 Participants	43 participants n=43 Participants	21 participants n=21 Participants	104 participants n=104 Participants

PRIMARY outcome

Timeframe: Week 1

Preferences for various sweet foods/fluids, assessed using a taste test, where participants sample several sweet and non-sweet foods and rate them for pleasantness on a 100mm Visual Analogue Scale, from 0 to 100mm. Higher scores signify stronger preferences

Outcome measures

Outcome measures
Measure	Dietary Instructions: Increase Sweet Food Consumption n=40 Participants Participants are asked to increase their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Participants will be provided with clear instructions, where sweet foods will be highlighted and additional means of increasing sweet food consumption will be offered. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions	Dietary Instructions: Decrease Sweet Food Consumption n=43 Participants Participants are asked to decrease their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Participants will be provided with clear instructions, where sweet foods will be highlighted and means of decreasing sweet food consumption will be offered. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions	Dietary Instructions: Usual Diet n=21 Participants Participants are asked to retain their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions
Sweet Food Preferences	66 score on a scale Standard Error 3	63 score on a scale Standard Error 3	68 score on a scale Standard Error 3

PRIMARY outcome

Timeframe: Week 1

Selection of sweet foods/fluids at a given meal, assessed where participants can consume freely from a meal composed of sweet and non-sweet foods, and proportion of sweet foods consumed is measured as a percentage of weight consumed

Outcome measures

Outcome measures
Measure	Dietary Instructions: Increase Sweet Food Consumption n=40 Participants Participants are asked to increase their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Participants will be provided with clear instructions, where sweet foods will be highlighted and additional means of increasing sweet food consumption will be offered. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions	Dietary Instructions: Decrease Sweet Food Consumption n=43 Participants Participants are asked to decrease their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Participants will be provided with clear instructions, where sweet foods will be highlighted and means of decreasing sweet food consumption will be offered. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions	Dietary Instructions: Usual Diet n=21 Participants Participants are asked to retain their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions
Sweet Food Choices	36 percentage of weight consumed Standard Error 4	25 percentage of weight consumed Standard Error 4	27 percentage of weight consumed Standard Error 4

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Week 1

Ratings of subjective perceptions, assessed using 100mm VAS from 0 (lower hunger) to 100 (higher hunger) mm

Outcome measures

Outcome measures
Measure	Dietary Instructions: Increase Sweet Food Consumption n=40 Participants Participants are asked to increase their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Participants will be provided with clear instructions, where sweet foods will be highlighted and additional means of increasing sweet food consumption will be offered. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions	Dietary Instructions: Decrease Sweet Food Consumption n=43 Participants Participants are asked to decrease their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Participants will be provided with clear instructions, where sweet foods will be highlighted and means of decreasing sweet food consumption will be offered. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions	Dietary Instructions: Usual Diet n=21 Participants Participants are asked to retain their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions
Hunger and Thirst	57 score on a scale Standard Deviation 18	65 score on a scale Standard Deviation 20	64 score on a scale Standard Deviation 18

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Week 1

Perceptions for various sweet foods/fluids, assessed using a taste test, where participants sample several sweet and non-sweet foods and rate them for intensity on a 100mm Visual Analogue Scale from 0 to 100mm. Higher scores signify stronger perceptions

Outcome measures

Outcome measures
Measure	Dietary Instructions: Increase Sweet Food Consumption n=40 Participants Participants are asked to increase their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Participants will be provided with clear instructions, where sweet foods will be highlighted and additional means of increasing sweet food consumption will be offered. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions	Dietary Instructions: Decrease Sweet Food Consumption n=43 Participants Participants are asked to decrease their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Participants will be provided with clear instructions, where sweet foods will be highlighted and means of decreasing sweet food consumption will be offered. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions	Dietary Instructions: Usual Diet n=21 Participants Participants are asked to retain their consumption of sweet foods throughout their diet. Dietary Instructions: Dietary Instructions
Sweet Food Perceptions	71 score on a scale Standard Error 3	77 score on a scale Standard Error 3	73 score on a scale Standard Error 3

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Baseline to week 1

Static brain scan gained from a 3-Tesla Siemens Magnetom Lumina scanner (Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany), used to investigate brain structure, where the anatomical structure (e.g. size, shape) of the brain, measured via surface area (mm squared), will be compared at baseline and week 1

Outcome measures

Outcome data not reported

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Baseline to week 1

Composite fMRI functional scan to investigate brain functionality and connectivity in response to a 10 min cognitive task, will be gained from a 3-Tesla Siemens Magnetom Lumina scanner (Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany), where patterns of activity will be measured using blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast whole-brain functional images, acquired using a T2-weighted gradient-echo Echo Planar Imaging (EPI) sequence and a 32-channel head coil during a 10 min cognitive task, and will be compared at baseline and week 1 (for full details of this methodology see Yankouskaya A, et al., Biology, 2023, 12, 211.)

Outcome measures

Outcome data not reported

Adverse Events

Dietary Instructions: Increase Sweet Food Consumption

Serious events: 0 serious events

Other events: 0 other events

Deaths: 0 deaths

Dietary Instructions: Decrease Sweet Food Consumption

Serious events: 0 serious events

Other events: 0 other events

Deaths: 0 deaths

Dietary Instructions: Usual Diet

Serious events: 0 serious events

Other events: 0 other events

Deaths: 0 deaths

Serious adverse events

Adverse event data not reported

Other adverse events

Adverse event data not reported

Additional Information

Dr Katherine Appleton

Bournemouth University

Phone: 01202965985

Email: [email protected]

Results disclosure agreements

Principal investigator is a sponsor employee
Publication restrictions are in place