Sweet Tooth: Nature or Nurture? Role of Long-term Dietary Sweetness Exposure on Sweetness Preferences

NCT04497974 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: NL72134.081.19
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 180
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

In recent years, social pressure has been exerted towards lowering sugar and sweetness levels in foods, with the aim of decreasing the sweetness preference of the general population. However, the resilience/flexibility of sweetness preferences and the impact on energy intake is a fundamental knowledge gap. Recent, relatively long-term studies limited to no more than 3 months did not find a relationship between sweetness exposure and sweetness preferences. Therefore, a longer-term systematic investigation is necessary to objectively evaluate whether sweetness preferences can be altered via varying the sweetness exposure and whether it can affect other outcomes, such as perceived taste intensity, food intake, body weight, body composition, glucose homeostasis and sweet liker type. The study sample will consist of 180 subjects. Enrolled participants will be distributed into three intervention groups; regular dietary sweetness exposure (n=60); low dietary sweetness exposure (n=60); and high dietary sweetness exposure (n =60). The intervention is semi-controlled for a period of six months. Preference and perceived taste intensity of a series of familiar and unfamiliar foods will be assessed at baseline (Day 0), during the intervention (Month 1, Month 3, Month 6) and in the follow-up period (Month 7, Month 10). Furthermore, outcomes such as observed food choice and intake during a test meal, reported food preferences, reported food cravings, sweet-liker type, glucose homeostasis, body weight, body composition and biomarkers related to diabetes and cardiovascular disease will be assessed as well.

Conditions

Food Preferences

Keywords

sweetness; preferences

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in preference score.

  Measured during preference testing, using Ranking on a scale methodology (scale anchored at 0: Dislike extremely; 50: Neither dislike or like; 100: Like extremely) in a series of test foods.

  from month 0 to month 6.

Secondary Outcomes (22)

• Change in preference score.

  from month 0 to month 1, 3, 7 ad 10.

• Difference in mean liking scores between familiar and unfamiliar foods.

  Measured at 0, 1, 3, 6, 7 and 10 months.

• Change in sensory intensity scores.

  Measured at 0, 1, 3, 6, 7 and 10 months.

• Change in energy intake.

  Measured at 0, 1, 3, 6, 7 and 10 months.

• Change in energy intake.

  Measured at 0, 1, 3, 6, 7 and 10 months.

Other Outcomes (6)

• Gender.

  Assessed at month 0.

• Height.

  Assessed at month 0.

• Physical activity level.

  Measured at 0, 1, 3, 6, 7 and 10 months.

Study Arms (3)

Regular dietary sweetness exposure - Control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Regular dietary sweetness exposure (RSE) - The RSE group consumes a diet with 25 - 30 % energy from sweet tasting foods, for 6 months.

Other: Dietary intervention

Low dietary sweetness exposure - Experimental

EXPERIMENTAL

Low dietary sweetness exposure (LSE) - The LSE group consumes a diet with 10 - 15 % energy from sweet tasting foods, for 6 months.

Other: Dietary intervention

High dietary sweetness exposure - Experimental

EXPERIMENTAL

High dietary sweetness exposure (HSE) - The HSE group consumes a diet with 40 - 45 % energy from sweet tasting foods, for 6 months.

Other: Dietary intervention

Interventions

Dietary intervention OTHER

Varying the exposure to sweetness via diet manipulation.

High dietary sweetness exposure - Experimental; Low dietary sweetness exposure - Experimental; Regular dietary sweetness exposure - Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Good general health;
• Age 18 - 65 years;
• Body mass index 18.5 - 30 kg/m2;
• Having normal taste ability (assessed with taste strips test);
• Having normal glucose levels in blood (assessed with a finger prick);
• Able to provide informed consent;
• Able to attend Wageningen University, as required for testing.

You may not qualify if:

• Diagnosed with diabetes currently or in the past;
• Has been notified to have insulin resistance currently or in the past;
• Diagnosed with endocrine diseases or other metabolic diseases that influence metabolism;
• Diagnosed with eating disorders;
• Diagnosed with taste or smell disorder;
• Pregnant or lactating during the study intervention;
• Gain or loss of more than 3 kg in the last three months prior to study entry;
• Suffering from lack of appetite (self-report);
• Use of medication that may influence study results; such as medication that may affect blood sugar;
• Having a food allergy or/and food intolerance for foods used in the preference testing (e.g. lactose intolerance, celiac disease, egg allergy);
• Consumes more than 14 glasses of alcohol per week;
• Use of soft or hard drugs (e.g. cannabis);
• Student or personnel of Nutrition and Health at Wageningen University;
• Participating in another study/studies or planning to participate in another study.
• Specific criteria for withdrawal:

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Wageningen University: lead
• Bournemouth University: collaborator
• TKI Agri & Food: collaborator
• Next Food Collective: collaborator
• American Beverage Association: collaborator
• Arla Foods: collaborator
• Cargill: collaborator
• Firmenich, Switzerland: collaborator
• International Sweeteners Association: collaborator
• SinoSweet, China: collaborator
• Cosun Nutrition Center, Netherlands: collaborator
• Unilever R&D: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Department of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University

Wageningen, Netherlands

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Cad EM, Tang CS, de Jong HBT, Mars M, Appleton KM, de Graaf K. Study protocol of the sweet tooth study, randomized controlled trial with partial food provision on the effect of low, regular and high dietary sweetness exposure on sweetness preferences in Dutch adults. BMC Public Health. 2023 Jan 11;23(1):77. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-14946-4.

  PMID: 36627602 BACKGROUND

• Cad EM, Mars M, Pretorius L, van der Kruijssen M, Tang CS, de Jong HB, Balvers M, Appleton KM, de Graaf K. The Sweet Tooth Trial: A Parallel Randomized Controlled Trial Investigating the Effects of A 6-Month Low, Regular, or High Dietary Sweet Taste Exposure on Sweet Taste Liking, and Various Outcomes Related to Food Intake and Weight Status. Am J Clin Nutr. 2026 Jan;123(1):101073. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2025.09.041. Epub 2025 Nov 27.

  PMID: 41485871 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Food Preferences

Interventions

Diet Therapy

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Feeding Behavior; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Nutrition Therapy; Therapeutics

Study Officials

• Kees de Graaf

  WU

  STUDY CHAIR

• Monica Mars

  WU

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor dr.ir Monica Mars

Model Details: Randomised controlled intervention study

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 16, 2019
• First Posted: August 4, 2020
• Study Start: October 20, 2020
• Primary Completion: June 5, 2024
• Study Completion: June 5, 2024
• Last Updated: June 13, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Immediately following the publication. No end date.
• Access Criteria: Anyone who wishes to access the data. Individuals who wish to use the data for secondary analysis must contact corresponding authors of respective/specific publications for their approval. They must also reference the source of the data to provide appropriate credit to those who generated it and allow searching for the studies it has supported.

Locations

NL (1)