Alternate day fasting (ADF) with consumption of calories up to 25 % of the daily energy intake on fast days is one of the most used intermittent fasting regimens and promoted as a promising, alternative approach for treating obesity. Feelings of appetite are critical for adherence to dietary approaches, and therefore the success of dietary interventions. This systematic review aimed to assess the effects of a minimum of 8 weeks of ADF on subjective feelings of appetite and body weight for adults with overweight and obesity. We conducted the review in accordance with the Cochrane guidelines, including systematic searches in four databases. Because of the high level of clinical and methodological heterogeneity, a narrative approach was used to synthesise the results. Eight studies with a total of 456 participants met the eligibility criteria: three randomised controlled trials and five uncontrolled before-after studies. Seven of the studies had high risk of bias. Feelings of appetite were assessed by hunger in eight studies, fullness in seven studies, satisfaction in four studies and desire to eat in one study. All the studies assessed weight loss. The certainty of the evidence was rated low or very low for all outcomes, thus no firm conclusions can be drawn about the potential benefits of ADF on subjective feelings of appetite and body weight. Despite the high interest in ADF, good quality evidence is still needed to determine its effectiveness and if offered in clinical practice, ADF should be offered cautiously while concomitantly evaluated.

The satiating efficiency of food has been increasingly quantified using the Satiety Quotient (SQ). The SQ integrates both the energy content of food ingested during a meal and the associated change in appetite sensations. This systematic review examines the available evidence regarding its methodological use and clinical utility. A literature search was conducted in six databases considering studies from 1900 to April 2020 that used SQ in adults, adolescents and children. All study designs were included. From the initial 495 references found, fifty-two were included. Of the studies included, thirty-three were acute studies (twenty-nine in adults and four in adolescents) and nineteen were longitudinal studies in adults. A high methodological heterogeneity in the application of the SQ was observed between studies. Five main utilisations of the SQ were identified: its association with (i) energy intake; (ii) anthropometric variables; (iii) energy expenditure/physical activity; (iv) sleep quality and quantity and (v) to classify individuals by their satiety responsiveness (i.e. low and high satiety phenotypes). Altogether, the studies suggest the SQ as an interesting clinical tool regarding the satiety responsiveness to a meal and its changes in responses to weight loss in adults. The SQ might be a reliable clinical indicator in adults when it comes to both obesity prevention and treatment. There is a need for more standardised use of the SQ in addition to further studies to investigate its validity in different contexts and populations, especially among children and adolescents.

We investigate factoriality, Connes' type III invariants and fullness of arbitrary amalgamated free product von Neumann algebras using Popa's deformation/rigidity theory. Among other things, we generalize many previous structural results on amalgamated free product von Neumann algebras and we obtain new examples of full amalgamated free product factors for which we can explicitely compute Connes' type III invariants.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of nutritional labelling on energy intake, appetite perceptions and attitudes towards food. During a 10-d period, seventy normal-weight (BMI<25 kg/m2) and seventy-one obese women (BMI≥30 kg/m2) were given three meals per d under ad libitum conditions. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental labelling groups in which the only difference was the label posted on lunch meal entrée: (1) low-fat label, (2) energy label (energy content of the entrée and average daily needs) and (3) no label (control). Average energy intake was calculated by weighing all foods before v. after daily consumption. Hunger and fullness perceptions were rated on visual analogue scales immediately before and after each meal. Satiety efficiency was assessed through the calculation of the satiety quotient (SQ). The appreciation and perceived healthiness of the lunch entrées were rated on eight-point Likert scales. There was no difference in energy intake, SQ and attitudes towards food between the three labelling groups. Fasting hunger perception was higher in the low-fat label group compared with the two others groups (P=0·0037). No interactions between labelling groups and BMI categories were observed. In conclusion, although labelling does not seem to influence energy intake, a low-fat label may increase women’s fasting hunger perceptions compared with an energy label or no label.

In addition to short sleep duration, reduced sleep quality is also associated with appetite control. The present study examined the effect of sleep fragmentation, independent of sleep duration, on appetite profiles and 24 h profiles of hormones involved in energy balance regulation. A total of twelve healthy male subjects (age 23 (sd 4) years, BMI 24·4 (sd 1·9) kg/m2) completed a 24 h randomised crossover study in which sleep (23.30–07.30 hours) was either fragmented or non-fragmented. Polysomnography was used to determine rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, slow-wave sleep (SWS) and total sleep time (TST). Blood samples were taken at baseline and continued hourly for the 24 h period to measure glucose, insulin, ghrelin, leptin, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and melatonin concentrations. In addition, salivary cortisol levels were measured. Visual analogue scales were used to score appetite-related feelings. Sleep fragmentation resulted in reduced REM sleep (69·4 min compared with 83·5 min; P< 0·05) and preservation of SWS without changes in TST. In fragmented v. non-fragmented sleep, glucose concentrations did not change, while insulin secretion was decreased in the morning, and increased in the afternoon (P< 0·05), and GLP-1 concentrations and fullness scores were lower (P< 0·05). After dinner, desire-to-eat ratings were higher after fragmented sleep (P< 0·05). A single night of fragmented sleep, resulting in reduced REM sleep, induced a shift in insulin concentrations, from being lower in the morning and higher in the afternoon, while GLP-1 concentrations and fullness scores were decreased. These results may lead to increased food intake and snacking, thus contributing to a positive energy balance.

The aim of this present study was to determine the reliability of a buffet-type meal as a measure of spontaneous energy and macronutrient intake. In addition, we evaluated the short-term effects of diet on the composition of the substrate mix oxidized postprandially. Fourteen male subjects had ad libitum access to a variety of foods from a buffet-type meal offered in the laboratory during two identical sessions. The foods comprising the test meal had varying amounts of protein, lipid and carbohydrate. The results showed that there were significant intraclass correlations (ri) for energy (ri 0·97, P = 0·0001), lipid (ri 0·97, P = 0·0001), carbohydrate (ri 0·92, P = 0·0003) and protein (ri 0·82, P = 0·0072) intake between the two meal sessions. Hunger and fullness levels measured immediately before and during 4 h after the meal were identical under the two conditions. In addition, there was no significant difference between the two sessions for RQ and resting energy expenditure, which showed significant reproducibility for measurements obtained immediately before, immediately after, as well as 30 min after, the buffet. This present study demonstrates the high reproducibility of energy and macronutrient intake and oxidation rate values obtained with a buffet-type meal in healthy male subjects and suggests that the use of this test is a reliable method for assessment of macronutrient preferences in the laboratory.