High-restrained Eaters Research Articles

The effect of restrained eating on acute stress-induced food intake in people with obesity

Restrained eating, defined as a form of intense dieting or restrictive food intake of specific macronutrients or types of food with sporadic episodes of overeating, results in an increased risk of overweight and obesity. Acute stress situations cause irregular eating patterns and are connected to restrained eating. Therefore, the present study investigates the effect of high/low restrained eating on eating behavior in people with obesity after standardized acute stress induction as well as resting condition. Fifty men and women with obesity (BMI: 33.62 ± 3.93 kg/m2) were categorized into high restrained eaters (HRE) and low restrained eaters (LRE). The total energy intake was measured during a standardized laboratory meal after a resting and stress condition (Trier Social Stress Test) on two separate days. HRE and LRE showed differences in the total energy intake in response to acute stress but not after resting condition (F(1, 47) = 9.188, p = .004, η2 = 0.164). Lower total energy intake after stress compared to resting condition could be observed in HRE (t (23) = −2.617, p = .015). LRE showed higher total energy intake after stress than after resting condition (t (25) = 2.155, p = .041). The present data suggest that restrained eating behavior might be an influencing factor for stress-induced eating in obesity. It is highly necessary to understand the association between restrained eating behavior, acute stress and obesity for the improvement of the behavioral intervention of dietary restriction.

Automatic Approach Tendencies toward High and Low Caloric Food in Restrained Eaters: Influence of Task-Relevance and Mood.

Objective: Although restrained eaters are motivated to control their weight by dieting, they are often unsuccessful in these attempts. Dual process models emphasize the importance of differentiating between controlled and automatic tendencies to approach food. This study investigated the hypothesis that heightened automatic approach tendencies in restrained eaters would be especially prominent in contexts where food is irrelevant for their current tasks. Additionally, we examined the influence of mood on the automatic tendency to approach food as a function of dietary restraint.Methods: An Affective Simon Task-manikin was administered to measure automatic approach tendencies where food is task-irrelevant, and a Stimulus Response Compatibility task (SRC) to measure automatic approach in contexts where food is task-relevant, in 92 female participants varying in dietary restraint. Prior to the task, sad, stressed, neutral, or positive mood was induced. Food intake was measured during a bogus taste task after the computer tasks.Results: Consistent with their diet goals, participants with a strong tendency to restrain their food intake showed a relatively weak approach bias toward food when food was task-relevant (SRC) and this effect was independent of mood. Restrained eaters showed a relatively strong approach bias toward food when food was task-irrelevant in the positive condition and a relatively weak approach in the sad mood.Conclusion: The weak approach bias in contexts where food is task-relevant may help high-restrained eaters to comply with their diet goal. However, the strong approach bias in contexts where food is task-irrelevant and when being in a positive mood may interfere with restrained eaters’ goal of restricting food-intake.

Dietary restraint, ambivalence toward eating, and the valence and content of spontaneous associations with eating

In a random sample of the German-speaking population of Switzerland (N=1388, 730 women), the technique of spontaneous associations was used to examine the relationship between valence (positive, negative) and content of participants’ spontaneous associations with the term “eating” and dietary restraint, ambivalence toward eating, and health consciousness. Regression analysis revealed ambivalence to be the most important and food health consciousness the second most important predictor of restrained eating. Correspondence analysis of the content of the spontaneous associations revealed high-restrained eaters to have fewer associations with eating than unrestrained eaters. High-restrained eaters most often had negative associations with diet and positive associations with health. Unrestrained eaters mentioned a variety of positive associations, such as community, comfort and well-being, preparation of food, aesthetics, and various specific foods (e.g., starchy side dishes, and sweets). Results support the notion that the conflict between weight control and eating enjoyment is rather pronounced in high-restrained eaters, resulting in ambivalence toward eating, and the inhibition of associations with palatable foods. This was less pronounced, but still present, in medium-restrained eaters. In contrast, unrestrained eaters seemed to have a balanced and conflict-free relationship with eating. However, restrained eating also seemed to be driven by health considerations.

The effects of emotion regulation on the desire to overeat in restrained eaters

The aim of the present study was to test whether emotion regulation (ER) strategies are underlying processes in the link between negative emotions and the desire to overeat (DTE) in high restrained eaters (HR). Forty-eight female HR and 46 female low restrained eaters (LR) watched three sadness inducing film clips. Thereby, participants were randomly assigned to and trained in one of three conditions while watching the first two clips: to suppress upcoming emotions, to accept upcoming emotions or to reappraise the situation. After that, they participated in an experiment in which the learned ER strategy was implemented while watching the third sadness inducing film clip. DTE and sadness were assessed prior to and at the end of each clip. Additionally, physiological measures of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branch were obtained. In the HR group emotion acceptance and suppression lead to a significant increase of the DTE from baseline to post-film, while there was no change in DTE in the reappraisal condition. However, psychophysiological measures were not moderated by ER strategies. The results are discussed in terms of the limited resource model.

The effects of the dopamine D3 receptor antagonist GSK598809 on attentional bias to palatable food cues in overweight and obese subjects

The mesolimbic dopamine system plays a critical role in the reinforcing effects of rewards. Evidence from pre-clinical studies suggests that D₃ receptor antagonists may attenuate the motivational impact of rewarding cues. In this study we examined the acute effects of the D₃ receptor antagonist GSK598809 on attentional bias to rewarding food cues in overweight to obese individuals (n=26, BMI mean=32.7±3.7, range 27-40 kg/m²) who reported binge and emotional eating. We also determined whether individual differences in restrained eating style modulated the effects of GSK598809 on attentional bias. The study utilized a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over design with each participant tested following acute administration of placebo and GSK598809 (175 mg). Attentional bias was assessed by the visual probe task and modified Stroop task using food-related words. Overall GSK598809 had no effects on attentional bias in either the visual probe or food Stroop tasks. However, the effect of GSK598809 on both visual probe and food Stroop attentional bias scores was inversely correlated with a measure of eating restraint allowing the identification of two subpopulations, low- and high-restrained eaters. Low-restrained eaters had a significant attentional bias towards food cues in both tasks under placebo, and this was attenuated by GSK598809. In contrast, high-restrained eaters showed no attentional bias to food cues following either placebo or GSK598809. These findings suggest that excessive attentional bias to food cues generated by individual differences in eating traits can be modulated by D₃ receptor antagonists, warranting further investigation with measures of eating behaviour and weight loss.

High-restrained eaters only overeat when they are also impulsive

Recent work shows that the inability to inhibit basic motor responses (like pressing a button) is related to overeating, weight gain and overweight. In the present study it was tested whether this inability to inhibit motor responses – or impulsivity – can differentiate between successful and unsuccessful restrained eaters. A typical preload and food exposure paradigm was used and it was hypothesized that only the high-restrained eaters that are simultaneously inefficient inhibitors of prepotent motor responses would overeat when confronted with tempting foods. In line with the hypothesis, the data show that overeating follows from an interaction between restraint and impulsivity; high-restrained eaters only overate when they were also impulsive. It is concluded that being restrained per se is not a determinant of overeating. Being a restrained eater only bears the risk of overeating in case of coexisting impulsivity.

High-restrained eaters are less distracted by food than are low restrained eaters

High-restrained eaters are less distracted by food than are low restrained eaters

Dietary restraint modulates the effects of food cue exposure on body and weight dissatisfaction

The influence of exposure to high- and low-caloric food cues on body and weight dissatisfaction was tested in 30 high- and 31 low-restrained (LR) eaters. Body and weight satisfaction were measured before and after exposure to either high- or low-caloric food cues (between-subject design). Contrary to our prediction, there was no differential effect of high- and low-caloric food cues on high-restrained (HR) eaters’ body satisfaction. HR participants became more dissatisfied with their bodies in both exposure conditions, whereas LR participants became more satisfied with their bodies. Results for satisfaction with weight, however, were in line with our hypothesis. HR tended to become more dissatisfied with their weight after high-caloric exposure and less dissatisfied after low-caloric exposure, whereas LRs weight satisfaction remained unchanged. Taken together, our results suggest that HRs body image is more impaired by exposure to food cues than LRs body image.

Dietary restraint, anxiety, and the relative reinforcing value of snack food in non-obese women

This study tested the independent and interactive effects of anxiety and dietary restraint on the relative reinforcing value of snack food. Thirty non-obese, female university students were assigned to one of four groups based on median split scores on measures of dietary restraint and state-anxiety: low-restraint/low-anxiety ( n = 7), low-restraint/high-anxiety ( n = 7), high-restraint/low-anxiety ( n = 9), and high-restraint/high-anxiety ( n = 7). Participants were provided the choice to earn points for palatable snack foods or fruits and vegetables using a computerized concurrent schedules choice task. The behavioural cost to gain access to snack foods increased across trials, whereas the cost to gain access to fruits and vegetables was held constant across trials. The relative reinforcing value of palatable snack food in relation to fruits and vegetables was defined as the total amount of points earned for snack food. Two-way analysis of covariance, with hunger and hedonic snack food ratings as covariates, showed that dietary restraint and anxiety had a significant interactive effect on the relative reinforcing value of snack food, indicating that the effect of anxiety on snack food reinforcement is moderated by dietary restraint. Specifically, the high-anxiety/low-restraint women found snack food significantly less reinforcing than low-anxiety/low-restraint women, but no differences emerged between high- and low-anxiety women with high-restraint. Neither restraint nor anxiety had an independent effect on the relative reinforcing value of snack food. These findings indicate that anxiety may have a suppressive effect on the relative reinforcing value of snack food in low-restrained eaters, but not an enhancing effect on snack food reinforcement in high-restrained eaters. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Relationship between dietary restraint, energy intake, physical activity, and body weight: A prospective analysis.

Dietary, activity, and body weight differences in high- and low-restrained eaters and the independent impact of dietary restraint on body weight change were evaluated in 287 adults (141 men, 146 women) followed over a 1-year period. Analyses of measures of energy intake, physical activity, and dietary restraint indicated that high-restrained eaters did not differ in physical activity compared to low-restrained eaters at baseline but were ingesting significantly fewer kcal/lb and a higher percentage of the diet from fat. Body mass was significantly greater in both high-restrained men and high-restrained women than in their low-restrained counterparts. Regression modeling procedures revealed that weight and body mass at baseline were related to weight gain in men. In contrast, weight gain in women was predicted by baseline weight and higher restraint scores. These results indicate that dietary restraint is associated with weight gain in women but not in men.

Relationship between dietary restraint, energy intake, physical activity, and body weight: a prospective analysis.

Dietary, activity, and body weight differences in high- and low-restrained eaters and the independent impact of dietary restraint on body weight change were evaluated in 287 adults (141 men, 146 women) followed over a 1-year period. Analyses of measures of energy intake, physical activity, and dietary restraint indicated that high-restrained eaters did not differ in physical activity compared to low-restrained eaters at baseline but were ingesting significantly fewer kcal/lb and a higher percentage of the diet from fat. Body mass was significantly greater in both high-restrained men and high-restrained women than in their low-restrained counterparts. Regression modeling procedures revealed that weight and body mass at baseline were related to weight gain in men. In contrast, weight gain in women was predicted by baseline weight and higher restraint scores. These results indicate that dietary restraint is associated with weight gain in women but not in men.