Does feeling what you eat change how you eat? Implications of an intervention to promote consciousness of eating experiences.

Introduction: This work aims to understand the experience of participating in the Food and Nutrition Education Program workshops with Sensory and Cognitive Exercises (PESC) and measure its impact on eating behavior. Methods: The PESC consists of four workshops with exercises stimulating perception and reflection on bodily sensations triggered in eating situations. It was developed to promote consciousness of eating experiences in women who reported difficulty in controlling their body weight and who increased over 5% of their body weight in the previous year. This is a mixed-methods study designed as a controlled trial. The intervention group (n = 19) was evaluated before the first workshop (T0) and after the last workshop (T1) and the control group (n = 18), which did not participate in the workshops, was evaluated twice (T0 and T1), with an interval of 3 to 4 weeks. At T0 and T1, it was applied the Intuitive Eating Scale (IES-2) and the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-R21). In T1, the intervention group also participated in a qualitative interview. Results: After participating in the PESC, the intervention group showed an increase in the IES-2 total score (95% Confidence Interval = (0.10, 0.39)) and a decrease in the emotional eating scale score (95% Confidence Interval = (-16.03; -3.85)). The interviews' analysis revealed the participants' self-observation process, which led to the perception of their practices, priorities, intentions, eating difficulties, and the connection between these aspects and environmental issues. The following themes were considered: Food management/control, Body dissatisfaction, Reflection/re-signification, and Different ways of being in familiar contexts. Discussion: The results allow us to infer that, after participating in the PESC, the intention to manage food intake became more effective, less susceptible to oscillations imposed by the external environment, and more supported by internal resources.

Freeze-dried jaboticaba peel powder rich in anthocyanins did not reduce weight gain and lipid content in mice and rats.

Jaboticaba, a native fruit from Brazilian Atlantic Forest, is an important source of anthocyanins. Anthocyanins have been recently identified as modulators of lipid metabolism and energy expenditure 'in vivo'. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the freeze-dried jaboticaba peel powder on obesity treatment in different experimental models. Obese Swiss mice and obese Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a high-fat diet supplemented with 1, 2 and 4% freeze-dried jaboticaba peel powder for 6 weeks. Energy intake, weight gain and body composition were determined, and the results were analyzed using variance and Tukey's tests (p < 0.05). The energy intake was higher in mice groups supplemented with 2% and 4% of jaboticaba peel. In relation to weight gain, the mice supplemented with 2% of jaboticaba peel had higher total weight gain than the other experimental groups, while no significant difference in the fat mass accumulation was observed among the groups. The rats did not show significant differences in the evaluated parameters. These results suggest that the supplementation with freeze-dried jaboticaba peel powder, at concentrations of 1, 2 and 4%, was not effective in the reduction of energy intake, weight gain and body fat both in mice and in rats.

Food Consciousness Intervention Improves Interoceptive Sensitivity and Expression of Exteroception in Women.

The perception of the body's internal state (interoception) and the perception and processing of environmental sensory stimuli (exteroception) act together to modulate adaptive behaviour, including eating behaviour, and are related to bodyweight control. This study evaluated the impact of the Food and Nutrition Education Program with Sensory and Cognitive Exercises on interoceptive sensitivity and on the expression of exteroceptive perception in women who experienced difficulty in controlling their body weight. Thirty-seven women were randomized into two groups and evaluated at two moments: before and after the intervention or before and after a 3- to 4-week waiting period. A heartbeat tracking task was used for interoception evaluation. Participants were asked to write a text describing three foods after tasting them for exteroception evaluation. After the intervention, the participants showed an increase in interoceptive sensitivity, and an increase in the expression of exteroceptive stimuli perception through a semantic assessment of their writing related to the tasting experience. In addition, the results point to a possible connection between the mechanisms governing interoception and exteroception. This work brings important contributions to the search for strategies capable of promoting the perception and integration of physiological and environmental stimuli in food consumption.

Relationship of negative emotion with leptin and food intake amongoverweight women.

Negative emotions can influence food intake. Leptin (an anorectic hormone) levels may change in response to psychological stressors. This study aimed to explore the relationship between leptin and food intake triggered by negative emotions in overweight women. Two groupswere studied: normal weight women (n = 21) and overweight women (n = 23). Both groups were exposed to videos to stimulate negative and neutral emotions followed by application ofthe Subjetive Analog Scale. Plasma leptin levels were evaluated before and after exposure to the videos. Subsequently, a brunch containing sweet and salty foods was offered to simulatea high food availability environment. Results show that when exposed to negative emotions there was an increase in food intake (normal weight: p=.010 / overweight: p=.005). There was no change in plasma leptin levels in normal weightand overweight women. Negative emotions promotedan increase in energy intake in both groups. The results reinforce the integration of biopsychosocial aspects involving emotions and food intake.

Desafios atuais da prática em pesquisa qualitativa: reflexões e posicionamento do pesquisador / Desafíos actuales de la práctica de la investigación cualitativa: reflexiones y posicionamiento del investigador / Challenges on current practice of qualitative research: reflections and researcher positioning

Este artigo parte do discurso provocativo feito pelo pesquisador Svend Brinkmann na 17ª Conferência sobre Pesquisa Qualitativa em Saúde para refletir criticamente sobre três desafios enfrentados na prática atual da pesquisa qualitativa e sobre o papel do pesquisador nesse contexto. São abordadas questões éticas, de reconhecimento e validade da pesquisa e relacionadas ao rigor metodológico que destacam o papel do posicionamento do pesquisador para o reconhecimento e a valorização da pesquisa qualitativa, em especial na área de pesquisa em saúde. (AU)

Este artículo se basa en el provocador discurso pronunciado por el investigador Svend Brinkmann en la 17ª Conferencia de Investigación Cualitativa en Salud para reflexionar críticamente sobre tres desafíos enfrentados en la práctica actual de la investigación cualitativa y el papel del investigador en ese contexto. Se abordan cuestiones éticas, de reconocimiento y vigencia de la investigación y relacionadas con el rigor metodológico, destacando el papel del puesto de investigador para el reconocimiento y valorización de la investigación cualitativa, especialmente en el área de la investigación en salud. (AU)

Building on the provocative speech given by researcher Svend Brinkmann at the 17th Qualitative Health Research Conference, this paperwork aims to critically think over three challenges faced during the current practice of qualitative research, and also the role of the researcher in this context. We have taken into consideration ethical issues and issues of recognition and validation of the research, as well as issues related to methodological rigor, which highlight the role of the researcher in the recognition and valuation of qualitative research, particularly in the health research field. (AU)

Conjunctural hunger and structural obesity in the global scenario: reflections on what Covid-19 masks reveal / Fome conjuntural e obesidade estrutural no cenário global: reflexões sobre o que revelam as máscaras da Covid-19

ABSTRACT This essay is a reflection on the interconnection of the Covid-19 pandemic, social inequality, food insecurity and obesity in the global scenario. The pandemic health crisis is bound to an economic and social crisis marked by an increase in unemployment and a decrease in income with a consequent growth of food and nutritional insecurity. The impacts are felt worldwide, although the situation in each country, with regard to the conditions of social inequality and access to food, influences the magnitude of the pandemic consequences. At the same time, we are aware that food and nutritional insecurity is associated with low food quality and higher rates of obesity, which impairs the immune response and predisposes to worse prognosis. Thus, more economically vulnerable populations must face poorer disease outcome, besides the worsening of the economic situation and food and nutritional insecurity and the increase in obesity rates.

RESUMO Este ensaio traz uma reflexão sobre a inter-relação da pandemia da doença causada pelo novo coronavírus com a desigualdade social, a insegurança alimentar e a obesidade no cenário global. A crise sanitária oriunda da pandemia está atrelada a uma crise econômica e social, marcada pelo aumento do desemprego e pela diminuição da renda, com consequente acréscimo da insegurança alimentar e nutricional. Os impactos devem ser sentidos em todo o mundo, embora a situação de cada país, no que diz respeito às condições de desigualdade social e acesso à alimentação, influencie na magnitude dos efeitos da pandemia. Paralelamente, sabe-se que a insegurança alimentar e nutricional está associada à baixa qualidade alimentar e a maiores índices de obesidade, o que prejudica a resposta imunológica e predispõe a piores prognósticos. Dessa forma, populações mais economicamente vulneráveis devem encarar piores desfechos da doença, além do agravamento da situação econômica, da piora da IAN e do aumento dos índices de obesidade.

Gosto, sabor e paladar na experiência alimentar: reflexões conceituais / Taste and flavor in food experience: conceptual reflections / Gusto, sabor y paladar en la experiencia alimentaria: reflexiones conceptuales

Este artigo discute o uso e definição de termos empregados no campo da percepção sensorial dos alimentos para propor maior precisão desta terminologia na prática clínica e na divulgação científica. A discussão parte de recentes descobertas da Neurociência que trouxeram contribuições relevantes para este campo e de uma retrospectiva de estudos importantes para a área. A partir do conceito definido pelos termos em inglês taste e flavour (ou flavor), foram traçadas correspondências com termos em português, de modo a representar, na terminologia, a conexão entre órgãos do sentido e cérebro na percepção sensorial dos alimentos.(AU)

The present paper addresses the use and definition of terms from the field of sensory perceptions of foods to suggest a more accurate usage of this terminology in clinical practice and scientific categorization. The starting point of the discussion was recent findings in the area of neuroscience that contributed to the mentioned field and a retrospective examination of studies relevant to the subject. From the concepts defined by the terms in English "taste" and "flavor" (or "flavour"), correspondences with Portuguese words were obtained, so that the terminology can represent the connection between sense organs and the brain in food sensory perception.(AU)

Este artículo discute el uso y definición de términos empleados en el campo de la percepción sensorial de los alimentos, para proponer mayor precisión de esta terminología en la práctica clínica y en la divulgación científica. La discusión parte de recientes descubrimientos de la neurociencia que brindaron relevantes contribuciones a este campo y de una retrospectiva de estudios importantes para el área. A partir del concepto definido por los términos en inglés taste y flavour (o flavor) se trazaron correspondencias con términos en portugués, para representar en la terminología, la conexión entre órganos del sentido y cerebro en la percepción sensorial de los alimentos.(AU)