Reducing Chocolate Craving

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1 Reducing Chocolate Craving Van Gucht, D. et al. (2007). Molly Briley, Ally Guba, Cailin Holt, Nathan Liu, Addie Petterson

2 Introduction Food craving is defined as an intense desire or longing to eat a particular food (Gucht et al., 2007). Chocolate is the most commonly craved food in Western Cultures, especially for women. Chocolate is not extremely harmful. However, it can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle and unwanted weight gain. Unlike alcohol dependence and binge eating, chocolate cravings are less confounded by psychological comorbidity, which makes research and treatment easier (Gucht et al., 2007). Few studies have been done on the reduction of chocolate cravings. Those that have been done have not shown substantial effects (Gucht et al., 2007).

3 Introduction Cues and processes related to chocolate cravings: Combination of sugar and fat. Uniquely attractive aroma Pharmacological/chemical properties induce positive feelings and energy. Sensory factors played more important role. Non-chocolate substitutes revealed that only sensory factors satisfied cravings. Women often report a stronger craving for chocolate during the premenstrual cycle (Hill & Heaton-Brown, 1994). However, this was not found in Spanish women indicating a possible cultural origin (Osman & Sobal, 2006; Zellner,Garriga-Trillo, Centeno, & Wadsworth, 2004). Exposure-based therapies, inspired by Pavlovian conditioning models of addiction, aim to extinguish cravings. They consist of repeated exposures to drug cues while preventing drug use (Gucht et al., 2007).

4 Introduction Cue exposure has proven to be helpful in the treatment of binge eating (Gucht et al., 2007). This study was measured into two ways alternately: Subjective report Salivation The experiment used a mood manipulation aimed at exploring to what extent reduction of craving would generalize to different mood contexts (Gucht et al., 2007).

5 Methods Participants: 58 subjects were chosen from a questionnaire sent out to 335 female students at the University of Leuvan because they identified themselves as chocolate cravers who had trouble controlling their cravings They reported their craving as: rather bad/bad/very bad They reported finding control as: neutral/rather difficult/very difficult They reported wanting control as: rather like/very much like

6 Measurements: Saliva Craving was measured by the amount of saliva excreted during chocolate cues by placing cotton rolls in the left, middle, and right sides in their mouth The weight of the cotton was measured before and after Subjects were told to restrict swallowing as much as necessary Sip water when they were done with measurements Measurements: Craving Scale Rate their craving at that moment Exposed 5 times to a tone, asked for a rating, averaged together for mean score

7 Procedure The experiment consisted of two, 1 hour long sessions with 1-3 days between sessions. Participants were not allowed to eat nor drink coffee 3 hours before session, nor eat chocolate for 24 hours prior to the session. Each participant was asked beforehand what their favorite kind of chocolate they preferred and that would be the kind they used

8 Session 1: The group was split into two groups. The first group watched a clip from the Dead Poets Society that was supposed to inflict a negative mood The second group watched two clips that were supposed to inflict a positive mood They did not find the clips had any effects on mood so they didn t do anything further with this All participants were asked to fill out a biological questionnaire and the PANAS Scales. Then they did an exercise trial with the cotton rolls which served as a baseline measurement of saliva secretion. Once the exposure trial started then the unwrapped chocolate bar was presented. The participant was instructed to first look at the chocolate bar for 30 seconds, and then to hold the chocolate bar for another 30 seconds, and then to constantly smell the chocolate for a whole minute. At the end of the first trial only, were participants allowed to have a small piece of chocolate. All cue exposure trials lasted for 27 minutes, during this time participants either had to report their craving online or salivation on the cotton roll was measured. The first session consisted of 10 cue exposure trials with 5 salivation measurements and 5 online craving measurements.

9 Procedure for session 2: This session was similar to the first session, except for this time both groups were presented both the clips that inflicted positive and negative moods. Again, this didn t show results so it wasn t used Also the last exposure trial of smelling the chocolate was increased to 2 minutes instead of just 1. Control Group: Participants in the control group were treated in the same way as participants in the experimental group, except that they only received exposure to chocolate at the beginning and the end of each session. Their craving was measured in the same way as for the participants in the experimental group.

10 Data Analysis Data analysis: 2x2x3 ANOVA on saliva excretion (group x session x trial) 3 trials included Baseline measurement of saliva (BS) Mean measurement of saliva in session 1, 2, and 3 for the experimental group (S1,S2,S3) Saliva excretion in the exposure trial of session 4 (S4) Data analysis: 2x2x3 ANOVA on craving scores 3 trials included Craving rating during 1st exposure trial (C1) Means ratings of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th exposure trials (C2,C3,C4) Craving rating of the last exposure trial C5

Results for Online Craving Scores There was a significant decrease from session one to session two for the experimental group while there was no difference between sessions for the control group.

11 Results for Online Craving Scores There was a significant decrease from session one to session two for the experimental group while there was no difference between sessions for the control group. In the experimental group we observed no decrease from beginning to end of the experiment. In the control group, there was an increase in reported cravings from the beginning of the experiment to the end.

Results for Amount of Salivation There was a significant decrease from session one to session two for the experimental group while there was no difference between the sessions of the control group.

12 Results for Amount of Salivation There was a significant decrease from session one to session two for the experimental group while there was no difference between the sessions of the control group. These results were similar to that of the Online Craving scores in that the scores in session two were lower than in session one in the experimental group but not the control group meaning that the cravings decreased for the experimental group but not the control group.

13 Discussion Exposure is effective in reducing chocolate craving Similar results seen in exposure therapy for other problems Reduced chocolate craving between-sessions, but not within-sessions Possible explanations: Expectation of receiving chocolate Short duration of experiment Cue-exposure has been proven to be effective in treating alcoholism (Drummond et al., 1995) but no other addictions (Conklin and Tiffany, 2002) Need for studies that measure other response measures Experiment is an example of the application of learning theory to conceptualize maintenance problems and behavior change

14 References Conklin, C. A., & Tiffany, S. T. (2002). Applying extinction research and theory to cue-exposure addiction treatments. Addiction, 97, Drummond, D. C., Tiffany, S. T., Glautier, S., & Remington, B. (1995). Addictive behaviour: Cue exposure theory and practice. New York: Wiley. Van Gucht, D. et al. (2007). Repeated cue exposure effects on subjective and physiological indices of chocolate craving. Appetite, 50(8)

REPEATED CUE EXPOSURE EFFECTS ON SUBJECTIVE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL INDICES OF CHOCOLATE CRAVING

REPEATED CUE EXPOSURE EFFECTS ON SUBJECTIVE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL INDICES OF CHOCOLATE CRAVING Theresa L. Arenas Lydia E. Stellwag Fariss M. Hogue Taylor R. Gill ABSTRACT & INTRODUCTION Abstract The Point: