Dataset Information

Vegetarians' and omnivores' affective and physiological responses to images of food.

ABSTRACT: Many vegetarians report that meat is unpleasant, but little else is known about their affective responses to meat and non-meat foods. Here we explored affective responses to food images in vegetarians and omnivores and tested the hypothesis that vegetarians have global differences in affective processing (e.g., increased disgust sensitivity). We presented pictures of different food items and recorded participants' affective experience while we recorded peripheral physiology. We found that vegetarians' self-reported experience of meat meal images was less pleasant than omnivores', but that other food images were equally pleasant across the two groups. Moreover, vegetarians and omnivores had strikingly similar physiological responses to all food images - including meat meals. We interpret these results from a psychological constructionist perspective, which posits that individuals conceptualize changes in their bodily states in ways that match their beliefs, such that increased sympathetic nervous system activity may be conceptualized as an experience of excitement about a delicious meat meal for omnivores but as an experience of displeasure for a vegetarian who believes meat is cruel, wasteful, impure, or unhealthy. This interpretation is consistent with emerging neuroscience evidence that the brain constructs experience by predicting and making meaning of internal sensations based on past experience and knowledge.

SUBMITTER: Anderson EC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6582652 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Vegetarians' and omnivores' affective and physiological responses to images of food.

Anderson Eric C EC Wormwood Jolie J Barrett Lisa Feldman LF Quigley Karen S KS

Food quality and preference 20180626

Many vegetarians report that meat is unpleasant, but little else is known about their affective responses to meat and non-meat foods. Here we explored affective responses to food images in vegetarians and omnivores and tested the hypothesis that vegetarians have global differences in affective processing (e.g., increased disgust sensitivity). We presented pictures of different food items and recorded participants' affective experience while we recorded peripheral physiology. We found that vegeta ...[more]

PMID: 31217670

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundIncreasing interest in diets excluding meat and other products of animal origin emphasizes the importance of objective and reliable methods to measure dietary exposure, to evaluate associations and causation between diet and health, and to quantify nutrient intakes in different diets.ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate if NMR analysis of urine samples can serve as an objective method to discriminate vegan, vegetarian with or without fish, and omnivore diets. A secondary aim was to assess the influence of dietary nutrient intake on the metabolomics results.MethodsHealthy individuals (43 men and 75 women, age 19-57 y) complying with habitual vegan (n = 42), vegetarian (n = 25), vegetarian + fish (n = 13), or omnivore (n = 38) diets were enrolled. Data were collected on clinical phenotype and lifestyle including a 4-d weighed food diary. Urine was analyzed for metabolites by NMR spectroscopy and data normalized using probabilistic quotient normalization and Pareto-scaled before multivariate analysis. Before orthogonal projections to latent structures with discriminant analysis, participants were assigned as meat consumers or nonmeat consumers (vegans and vegetarians), vegans or nonvegans (omnivores, vegetarian, and vegetarian + fish).ResultsThe main results showed that it was possible to discriminate meat and nonmeat consumers (91% correctly classified), but discrimination between vegans and nonvegans was less rigorous (75% correctly classified). Secondary outcomes showed that reported intake of protein was higher in omnivores, and saturated fat lower and fiber higher in vegans, compared with the other groups. Discriminating metabolites were mainly related to differences in protein intake.ConclusionsNMR urine metabolomics appears suitable to objectively identify and predict habitual intake of meat in healthy individuals, but results should be interpreted with caution because not only food groups but also specific foods contribute to the patterns.This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02039609.

Project description:To describe the abundance of major phyla and some genera in the gut microbiota of individuals according to dietary habits and examine their associations with inflammatory markers, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular risk profile.A total of 268 non-diabetic individuals were stratified into groups of dietary types (strict vegetarians, lacto-ovo-vegetarians, and omnivores). The taxonomic composition and phylogenetic structure of the microbiota were obtained through the analysis of the 16S rRNA gene. Samples were clustered into operational taxonomic units at 97% similarity using GreenGenes 13.5 database. Clinical, biochemical, and circulating inflammatory markers were compared by ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis test.The sample (54.2% women, mean age 49.5 years) was composed of 66 strict vegetarians, 102 lacto-ovo-vegetarians and 100 omnivores. Considering the entire sample, the greatest abundant phyla were Firmicutes (40.7 ± 15.9%) and Bacteroidetes (39.5 ± 19.9%), and no difference in abundances was found between individuals with normal and excess weight. Stratifying by dietary types, the proportion of Firmicutes was lower and of Bacteroidetes was higher in strict vegetarians when compared to lacto-ovo-vegetarians and omnivores. At the genus level, strict vegetarians had a higher Prevotella abundance and Prevotella/Bacteroides ratio than the other groups. They also had a lower proportion of Faecalibacterium than lacto-ovo-vegetarians, and both vegetarian groups had higher proportions than did omnivores. Succinivibrio and Halomonas from the Proteobacteria phylum were overrepresented in omnivores. The omnivorous group showed higher values of anthropometric data, insulin, HOMA-IR, and a worse lipid profile. Inflammatory markers exhibited a gradual and significant increase from the vegetarians and lacto-ovo-vegetarians to the omnivorous group.There are differences in gut microbiota composition of individuals with distinct dietary habits, who differ according to their inflammatory and metabolic profiles. Based on the findings relative to bacteria abundances and on their recognized actions in the metabolism, we suggest that exposure to animal foods may favor an intestinal environment which could trigger systemic inflammation and insulin resistance-dependent metabolic disorders.

Project description:BackgroundAn appropriate diet is an important determinant of kidney health. However, the association between vegetarian diets and renal function is unclear. We aimed to study the association between vegetarian diets and renal function in healthy adults.MethodsA total of 269 vegetarians and 269 sex- and age-matched nonvegetarian omnivores were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Basic characteristics and daily dietary intakes were assessed by face-to-face interviews. Blood samples were collected, and renal function was assessed by measuring blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (SCr), uric acid (UA) and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Blood pressure, fasting blood glucose and blood lipid profiles were also assessed.ResultsThe average age of the vegetarians was 35.4 ± 8.6 years, 82.2% of whom were female. We evaluated the association between vegetarian diets and renal function using multivariate analysis. Compared with omnivores, vegetarians had lower BUN [β = - 0.63, 95% confidence interval (CI): (- 0.88, - 0.38)], SCr [β = - 2.04, 95% CI:(- 4.10, 0.02)], and UA levels [β = - 15.15, 95% CI: (- 27.81, - 2.50)] and higher eGFRs [β = 4.04, 95% CI: (0.30, 7.78)] after adjusting for sex, age, body mass index (BMI), physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking status, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), systolic pressure and fasting blood glucose. Further analysis of food composition and renal function showed that dietary fiber intake was significantly negatively associated with BUN [β = - 0.02, 95% CI: (- 0.03, 0.00)], SCr [β = - 0.14, 95% CI: (- 0.25, 0.04)], and UA levels [β = - 0.72, 95% CI: (- 1.36, 0.07)] and positively associated with the eGFR [β = 0.20, 95% CI: (0.00, 0.40)].ConclusionsHealthy adult vegetarians have better renal function than omnivores, and the higher dietary fiber intake associated with vegetarian diets may contribute to the protective effect on renal function.

Dataset Information

Vegetarians' and omnivores' affective and physiological responses to images of food.

Publications

Vegetarians' and omnivores' affective and physiological responses to images of food.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets