Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Food Intake and Physiological Regulation: The Means and the End

Book cover Handbook of Eating and Drinking

Abstract

The independent life of animals requires the active regulation of many critical parameters of the internal status of the organism, in other words, their maintenance within a narrow range of defended values. From the early days of research into homeostatic mechanisms, it appeared that food intake (FI) is not one of such parameters. FI is one of many effector mechanisms that contribute to the regulation of several internal parameters, such as glycemia and adipose stores. The science of the last century has clarified the fine machinery of regulatory processes, both at the periphery and in the brain. Beyond the early notion of feedback loops triggering regulatory responses to existing need states, research has documented how efficient regulation rests on learned anticipatory responses, both physiological and behavioral, that are highly plastic and continuously shaped by the experience of environmental contingencies. Studies of eating patterns in free-living humans have revealed the significant influence of numerous factors, among which signals of physiological needs exert a modest role. In spite of the massive influence of environmental and social factors, regulatory adjustments can be detected in the FI of humans, including obese humans. These impressive developments in knowledge have paralleled an unprecedented increase in the frequency of obesity. In this field, knowledge does not equate power. Even in the obesogenic world, FI matches energy needs perfectly in many individuals. Understanding why regulation mechanisms allow body adiposity to drift upward in so many others remains a crucial question.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bellisle, F. (2014). Meals and snacking, diet quality and energy balance. Physiology & Behavior, 134, 38–43.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bernard, C. (1879). Leçons sur les phénomènes de la vie. Paris: Baillère.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berridge, K. C., Ho, C. Y., Richard, J. M., & DiFeliciantonio, A. G. (2010). The tempted brain eats: Pleasure and desire circuits in obesity and eating disorders. Brain Research, 1350, 43–64.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Berthoud, H. R. (2011). Metabolic and hedonic drives in the neural control of appetite: Who is the boss? Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 21, 888–896.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Berthoud, H. R., Munzberg, H., & Morrison, C. D. (2017). Blaming the brain for obesity: Integration of hedonic and homeostatic mechanisms. Gastroenterology, 152, 1728–1738.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blundell, J. E., de Graaf, C., Hulshof, T., Jebb, S., Livingstone, B., Lluch, A., et al. (2010). Appetite control: Methodological aspects of the evaluation of foods. Obesity Reviews, 11, 251–270.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Booth, D. A. (1977). Satiety and appetite are conditioned reactions. Psychosomatic Medicine, 39, 76–81.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brobeck, J. R. (1948). Food intake as a mechanism of temperature regulation. Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, 20, 545–552.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Caballero, B. (2019). Humans against obesity: Who will win? Advances in Nutrition, 10, S4–S9. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmy055.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cannon, W. B. (1932). The wisdom of the body (pp. 177–201). New York: W. W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Champagne, C. M., Han, H., Bajpeyi, S., Rood, J., Johnson, W. D., Lammi-Keefe, C. J., et al. (2013). Day-to-day variation in food intake and energy expenditure in healthy women: The Dietitian II Study. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 113, 1532–1538.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapelot, D., Marmonier, C., Aubert, R., et al. (2004). A role for glucose and insulin preprandial profiles to differentiate meals and snacks. Physiology & Behavior, 80, 721–731.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • De Castro, J. M. (1988). A microregulatory analysis of spontaneous fluid intake by humans: Evidence that the amount of liquid ingested and its timing is mainly governed by feeding. Physiology & Behavior, 43, 705–714.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Castro, J. M. (1994). Methodology, correlational analysis, and interpretation of diet diary records of the food and fluid intakes of free-living humans. Appetite, 23, 179–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Castro, J. M. (1998). Prior day’s intake has macronutrient-specific delayed negative feedback effects on the spontaneous food intake of free-living humans. Journal of Nutrition, 128, 61–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Castro, J. M. (2010). The control of food intake of free-living humans: Putting the pieces back together. Plysiology & Behavior, 100, 446–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Castro, J. M., & Brewer, E. M. (1992). The amount eaten by humans is a power function of the number of people present. Physiology & Behavior, 51, 121–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Castro, J. M., & Elmore, D. K. (1988). Subjective hunger relationship with meal patterns in the spontaneous feeding behavior of humans: Evidence for a causal connection. Physiology & Behavior, 43, 159–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Castro, J. M., & Plunkett, S. (2002). A general model of intake regulation. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 26, 581–595.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edholm, O. G., Fletcher, J. G., Widdowson, E. M., & McCance, R. A. (1955). The energy expenditure and food intake of individual men. British Journal of Nutrition, 9, 286–300.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, K. D., Sacks, G., Chandramohan, D., Chow, C. C., Wang, Y. C., Gortmaker, S. L., et al. (2011). Quantification of the effect of energy imbalance on bodyweight. Lancet, 378, 826–837.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, K. D., Heymsfield, S. B., Kemnitz, J. W., Klein, S., Schoeller, D. A., & Speakman, J. R. (2012). Energy balance and its components: Implications for body weight regulation. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 95, 989–994.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herman, P. (2015). The social facilitation of eating. A review. Appetite, 86, 61–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higgs, S., & Spetter, M. S. (2018). Cognitive control of eating: The role of memory in appetite and weight gain. Current Obesity Reports, 7, 50–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoebel, B. G., & Teitelbaum, P. (1966). Hypothalamic control of feeding and self-stimulation. Science, 149, 452–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iwatsuki, K., Ichikawa, R., Uematsu, A., Kitamura, A., Uneyama, H., & Torii, K. (2011). Detecting sweet and umami tastes in the gastrointestinal tract. Acta Physiologica, 204, 169–177. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1716.2011.02353.x.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., Schkade, D. A., Fischler, C., Krueger, A. B., & Krilla, A. (2010). The structure of Well-being in two cities: Life satisfaction and experienced happiness in Columbus, Ohio; and Rennes, France. In E. Diener, J. F. Helliwell, & D. Kahneman (Eds.), International differences in well-being (pp. 16–33). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, G. C. (1953). The role of depot fat in the hypothalamic control of food intake in the rat. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B137, 578–592.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langhans, W. (1996). Metabolic and glucostatic control of feeding. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 55, 497–515.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Le Magnen, J. (1971). Advances I studies of the physiological control and regulation of food intake. In E. Stellar, & J.M. Sprague (Eds.). Progress in Physiological Psychology, 4, 204–261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Magnen, J. (1992). Neurobiology of feeding and nutrition. San Diego: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, J. (1953). Glucostatic mechanisms of regulation of food intake. New England Journal of Medicine, 249, 13–16.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McKiernan, F., Hollis, J. H., & Mattes, R. D. (2008a). Short-term dietary compensation in free-living adults. Physiology & Behavior, 18, 975–983.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKiernan, F., Houchins, J. A., & Mattes, R. D. (2008b). Relationships between human thirst, hunger, drinking, and feeding. Physiology & Behavior, 94, 700–708.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McKiernan, F., Hollis, J. H., McCabe, G., & Mattes, R. D. (2009). Thirst-drinking, hunger-eating; tight coupling? Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 109, 486–490.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pavela, G., Allison, D. B., & Cardel, M. I. (2019). A sweeping highlight of the literature examining social status, eating behavior, and obesity. Appetite, 132, 205–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pavlov, I. (1927). Conditioned reflexes. An investigation of the physiological activity of the cerebral cortex. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pepino, M. Y., & Mennella, J. A. (2012). Habituation to the pleasure elicited by sweetness in lean and obese women. Appetite, 58, 800–805.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powley, T. L. (1977). The ventromedial hypothalamic syndrome, satiety, and a cephalic phase hypothesis. Psychology Review, 84, 89–126.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Powley, T. L., & Keesey, R. E. (1970). Relationship of body weight to the lateral hypothalamic feeding syndrome. Journal of Comparative Physiological Psychology, 70, 25–36.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ramsay, D. S., & Woods, S. C. (2016). Physiological regulation: How it really works. Cell Metabolism, 24, 361–364.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rodgers, A., Woodward, A., Swinburn, B., & Dietz, W. H. (2018). Prevalence trends tell us what did not precipitate the US obesity epidemic. The Lancet, 3, e162–e163.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, P. J., & Brunstrom, J. M. (2016). Appetite and energy balancing. Physiology & Behavior, 164, 465–471.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rolls, B. J., & Hetherington, M. (1989). The role of variety in eating and body weight. In R. Shepherd (Ed.), Psychobiology of human eating and nutritional behavior (pp. 58–84). Sussex: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sclafani, A. (2018). From appetite set point to appetition: 50 years of ingestive behavior research. Physiology & Behavior, 192, 210–217.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Somjen, G. G. (1992). The missing error signal: Regulation beyond negative feedback. News in Physiological Science, 7, 184–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Speakman, J. R. (2007). A nonadaptative scenario explaining the genetic predisposition to obesity: The ‘Predation release’ hypothesis. Cell Metabolism, 6, 5–12.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Speakman, J. R., Levitsky, D. A., Allison, D. B., et al. (2011). Set points, settling points and some alternative models: Theoretical options to understand how genes and environments combine to regulate body adiposity. Disease Models & Mechanisms, 4, 733–745.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stubbs, R., Hughes, D., Johnstone, A., Rowley, E., Reid, C., Elia, M., et al. (2000). The use of visual analogue scales to assess motivation to eat in human subjects: A review of their reliability and validity with an evaluation of new hand-held computerized systems for temporal tracking of appetite ratings. British Journal of Nutrition, 84, 405–415.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Teff, K. L. (2011). How neural mediation of anticipatory and compensatory insulin release helps us tolerate food. Physiology & Behavior, 103, 44–50.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thaler, J. P., Guyenet, S. J., Dorfman, M. D., & Wisse, B. E. (2013). Hypothalamic inflammation: Marker or mechanism of obesity pathogenesis? Diabetes, 62, 2629–2634.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Woods, S. C. (2009). The control of food intake: Behavioral versus molecular perspectives. Cell Metabolism, 9, 489–498.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Woods, S. C. (2013). Metabolic signals and food intake. Forty years of progress. Appetite, 71, 440–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woods, S. C., May-Zhang, A. A., & Begg, D. P. (2018). How and why do gastrointestinal peptides influence food intake? Physiology & Behavior, 193, 218–222.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Y., Proenca, R., Maffei, M., Barone, M., Leopold, I., & Friedman, J. M. (1994). Positional cloning of the mouse obese gene and its human homologue. Nature, 372, 425–432.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng, H., Lenard, N. R., Shin, A. C., & Berthoud, H. R. (2009). Appetite control and energy balance regulation in the modern world: Reward-driven brain overrides repletion signals. International Journal of Obesity, 33, S8–S13.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutri Psy Consult, Paris, France

    France Bellisle

Authors
  1. France Bellisle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to France Bellisle .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Scientific Committee, Institut Paul Bocuse, Rockport, MA, USA

    Herbert L. Meiselman

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Bellisle, F. (2019). Food Intake and Physiological Regulation: The Means and the End. In: Meiselman, H. (eds) Handbook of Eating and Drinking. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_128-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_128-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75388-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75388-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Food Intake and Physiological Regulation: The Means and the End
    Published:
    20 March 2024

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_128-2

  2. Original

    Food Intake and Physiological Regulation: The Means and the End
    Published:
    14 March 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_128-1

Search

Navigation