Primary researchers: Jeff Brunstrom (PI), Peter Rogers (Co-I), Andreas Jarvstad 

Collaborators: Jonathan Brooks, Ashley Martin, Danielle Ferriday, Marianna Blackburn, George Stothart, Annie Zimmerman, Alice Mason.

External collaborators: Cees de Graaf (Wageningen University), Hubert Preissl (University of Tübingen)

Eating too much, or making poor food choices can lead to excess weight gain and obesity,  which increase the risk of  various health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Therefore, understanding the factors which govern people’s food choices is a priority.

The Nutrition and Behaviour Unit (NBU) is part of a consortium of 16 institutions across six European countries, the US and New Zealand working on a £7.4 million program, funded by the European Commission, to investigate what drives decisions about when we eat, how much we eat and the types of foods we choose to eat. The ultimate goal of the project is to provide evidence for public health policies aimed at promoting healthier diets.

Our team at Bristol will focus specifically on differences in food choice associated with gender, dietary restraint and BMI. Our aim is to develop novel methods to isolate the independent role of sensory (i.e., vision, taste, smell), nutrient (i.e., macronutrients ingested, energy content), and satiety (i.e., post-ingestive signals) reward in determining food choice. By deconstructing food choice in this way, we hope to offer a unique perspective on how healthy and unhealthy dietary decisions are learned and expressed.

To find out more about the Nudge-it project please click on this link - http://www.nudge-it.eu/

Recent peer-reviewed publications:

• Brunstrom, J. M., Jarvstad, A., Griggs, R. L., Potter, C., Evans, N. R., Martin, A. A., Brooks, J. C. & Rogers, P. J. (2016). Large Portions Encourage the Selection of Palatable Rather Than Filling Foods. The Journal of Nutrition, 146(10), 2117-2123. Click here to view
• Rogers, PJ & Hardman, CA 2015, 'Food reward. What it is and how to measure it' Appetite, vol 90, pp. 1-15., Click here to view
• Hardman, C, Ferriday, D, Kyle, L, Rogers, PJ & Brunstrom, JM 2015, 'So Many Brands and Varieties to Choose from:: Does This Compromise the Control of Food Intake in Humans?' PLOS ONE., Click here to view
• Hardman, CA, Rogers, PJ, Dallas, R, Scott, J, Ruddock, HK & Robinson, E 2015, '"Food addiction is real". The effects of exposure to this message on self-diagnosed food addiction and eating behaviour' Appetite, vol 91, pp. 179-184., Click here to view
  
• Forde, CG, Almiron-Roig, E & Brunstrom, JM 2015, 'Expected Satiety: Application to Weight Management and Understanding Energy Selection in Humans' Current Obesity Reports, vol 4, no. 1, pp. 131-140., Click here to view
• Ferriday, D, Bosworth, M, Lai, S, Godinot, N, Martin, N, Martin, A, Rogers, P & Brunstrom, JM 2015, 'Effects of eating rate on satiety: A role for episodic memory?' Physiology & Behavior., Click here to view
• Martin, A, Hamill, L, Davies, S, Rogers, P & Brunstrom, J 2015, 'Energy-dense snacks can have the same expected satiation as sugar-containing beverages' Appetite., vol 95, pp. 81-88., Click here to view
• Brunstrom, JM, Rogers, PJ, Myers, KP & Holtzman, JD 2015, 'In search of flavour-nutrient learning: A study of the Samburu pastoralists of North-Central Kenya: Dietary learning in Samburu' Appetite. vol 91, pp.415-425., Click here to view
• Brunstrom, JM 2014, 'Mind over platter: pre-meal planning and the control of meal size in humans' International Journal of Obesity, vol 38 Suppl 1, pp. S9-S12., Click here to view

 

‌