Effects of macronutrient content and energy density of snacks consumed in a satiety state on the onset of the next meal

We examined the effects of nutrient composition of a 1 MJ afternoon snack, consumed in a satiety state, on the spontaneous onset of the next meal in 11 young male subjects deprived of any temporal cues. All subjects attended four experimental sessions scheduled 2 weeks apart. The first, baseline, session served to establish: (1) the subjectsʹ ad libitum lunch intake, (2) the latency of the spontaneous request for dinner following lunch, (3) ad libitum food intake at dinner. Lunches provided during the next three sessions were based on baseline lunch intakes. During the following three sessions, conducted in counterbalanced order, subjects were given a high-fat (58% of energy from fat), a high-protein (77%) or a high-carbohydrate (84%) snack to be consumed 240 min after the beginning of lunch. Latency to dinner and the amount of energy consumed at dinner were two dependent variables. Consumption of a high-protein snack delayed the request for dinner by 60 min. In contrast, high-fat snack delayed dinner request by 25 min, whereas high-carbohydrate snack delayed dinner request by 34 min. Snack composition had no impact on energy or macronutrient intakes during dinner.