The new study, published in Appetite, suggests that there are distinct differences in how dietary fats in foods and drinks affect feelings of fullness - revealing that different forms of fatty acids in foods have divergent influences on feelings of fullness and on levels of the satiety hormone, peptide YY (PYY).
Led by Dr Jamie Cooper from Texas Tech University, USA, the research team compared the effect of different high-fat meals - that ere rich in either monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), or saturated fatty acids (SFAs) - on the satiety hormone, peptide YY (PYY), and subjective feelings of hunger and fullness.
"Our data indicate that there are differences between dietary FAs on the satiety hormone PYY and subjective measures of fullness," said the research team - noting that meals rich in PUFAs and SFAs had greater PYY response than a MUFA-rich meal.
"Subjective feelings of fullness were greater, and responses for how much they thought they could eat were lower, for the SFA-rich meal compared to either the PUFA- or MUFA-rich meals while hunger responses did not differ between treatment groups," said Cooper and her team.