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Solid Versus Liquid Calories: Current Scientific Understandings

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Book cover Fructose, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sucrose and Health

Part of the book series: Nutrition and Health ((NH))

Key Points

  • Food form influences food choice, energy intake, and possibly body weight.

  • Expectations and sensory properties related to food form alter behavioral and physiological responses in consumers.

  • Beverages hold weaker appetitive effects and elicit compensatory dietary responses than solid foods.

  • Thirst sensations are stronger and more consistent over the day than hunger sensations.

  • Not all foods high in water content elicit comparable appetitive and compensatory responses; clear beverages are most problematic for promoting positive energy balance and weight gain.

  • Energy-yielding beverage intake increased markedly between the late 1970s and early 2000s then moderated, albeit at a high level.

  • Beverage consumption adds energy to the diet, but it is also associated with increased energy intake from solid foods; causality has yet to be established.

  • The association between beverage and food energy holds across sexes, age, and ethnic groups.

  • The epidemiological data, short-term appetite and feeding studies, randomized controlled trials, and mechanistic findings strongly suggest, but do not confirm, that energy-yielding beverage consumption is directly related to risk of weight gain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition Science, Purdue University, 700 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Joshua B. Jones B.S., M.S., Janice Lee B.S., R.D. & Richard D. Mattes M.P.H., Ph.D., R.D.

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  1. Joshua B. Jones B.S., M.S.
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  2. Janice Lee B.S., R.D.
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  3. Richard D. Mattes M.P.H., Ph.D., R.D.
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Correspondence to Richard D. Mattes M.P.H., Ph.D., R.D. .

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  1. Rippe Lifestyle Institute, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, USA

    James M. Rippe

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Jones, J.B., Lee, J., Mattes, R.D. (2014). Solid Versus Liquid Calories: Current Scientific Understandings. In: Rippe, J. (eds) Fructose, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sucrose and Health. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-8077-9_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-8077-9_4

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