PREFERENCES FOR FOODS WITH VARYING LEVELS OF SALT AND FAT DIFFER AS AFUNCTION OF DIETARY RESTRAINT AND EXERCISE BUT NOT MENSTRUAL-CYCLE

Women commonly report increased cravings for foods high in sugar, fat, and/or salt premenstrually relative to other times during the menstru al cycle. To determine if elevated cravings for foods high in salt and /or fat were related to alterations in food preferences across the men strual cycle, preference and sensory ratings for air-popped popcorn wi th varying levels of salt (0.0, 1.5, and 4.0 g) and butter (3.3, 10, a nd 30 g) added to 30 g of popcorn were assessed in 34 normal-weight, c ollege-aged women for 4 consecutive weeks. Additionally, using the Pro file of Mood Scale (POMS), mood states were determined across the mens trual cycle. Dietary restraint, disinhibition, and hunger were assesse d using the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ). Neither preferen ce ratings nor ratings of the saltiness or fatness of the popcorn samp les varied as a function of the menstrual cycle. Moreover, no differen ces in mood states were observed across the menstrual cycle. However, preference ratings for the popcorn samples were significantly greater for restrained than unrestrained eaters. Restrained eaters also rated the samples as significantly more salty, and had significantly higher scores on the tension-anxiety and depression-dejection subscale of the POMS than unrestrained eaters. Additionally, preference ratings of wo men who reported exercising more than 3 h a week were significantly gr eater than those of women who reported exercising less than 3 h a week . It is hypothesized that the variations in preference ratings observe d as a function of dietary restraint and exercise are the result of di fferences in cognitive beliefs about food, rather than differences in physiological factors.