Hedonic hunger or hedonic hyperphagia refers to the drive to eat to obtain pleasure in the absence of an energy deficit.
Particular foods may have a high hedonic rating or individuals may have increased susceptibility to environmental food cues.
Weight loss programs may aim to control or to compensate for hedonic hunger, with interventions may influence hedonic eating behavior.
Hunger may arise from energy or nutrient deficits, as would be expected and may arise more commonly from anticipated pleasure of eating, consistent with the positive-incentive perspective.
These are homeostatic hyperphagia and hedonic hyperphagia respectively.
Hunger and eating are subject to feedback control from homeostatic, hedonic, and cognitive processes.
The positive-incentive perspective of hunger suggests that eating is similar to sexual behavior: humans engage in sexual behavior, not because of an internal deficit, but because they have evolved in a way that makes them crave it.
High calorie foods have had intrinsic reward value.
The presence of desirable (hedonic) food, or the mere anticipation of it, makes one hungry, and the psychological effects of hedonic hunger may be the appetitive equivalent of hedonically driven activities such as recreational drug use and compulsive gambling.
Susceptibility to food cues can lead to overeating.
Such hedonistic eating overrides the body’s ability to regulate consumption with satiety.
Specific appetite is a drive to eat foods with specific flavors or other characteristics.
Specific appetite put greater emphasis on individuals who adaptationally learn a particular appetite behavior rather than an evolutionarily innate, hedonic appetite preference.
A hedonic rating of foods reflects those individuals are more likely to eat even though they aren’t hungry.
There may be increased hedonic hunger susceptibility to environmental food cues.
Genetic variability may influence hedonic hyperphagia.
Variation in hedonic hunger levels from person to person may be key in determining success in weight loss tactics and a person’s ability to cope with tempting foods that are readily available.
The Power of Food Scale (PFS) quantifies a person’s appetitive anticipation, not consumption.
Binge-eaters, obese individuals and those with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa scored higher than restrictive type and normal weight college students.
A decrease in PFS score leads to better success in weight loss.
The reinforcing value of food refers to how hard someone is willing to work to obtain food.[24]
Food reinforcement refers to how hard someone is willing to work to obtain food that is influenced by several factors including food palatability, food deprivation, and food variety.
Food reinforcement is also motivated by concerns about fullness and the hunger that might be experienced in the intervening period between meals.
The effector mechanisms of food reinforcement depend on dopaminergic activity in the brain.
Adding dietary fiber to foods and beverages increases satiety and reduces energy intake at the next meal.
Low-energy-density foods with high satiating power may be useful tools for weight management.
Satiety has been found to be greater with yogurt beverages than fruit juice, and was equal with low-energy-density yogurt with inulin and high-energy-density yogurt.
People with high PFS scores may do better with meal replacement products.
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP1) agonists, such as exenatide and liraglutide, which are used for diabetes, may help suppress food reward behavior.
Inhibition of dopamine transport within the brain increases dopamine concentrations, which can reduce energy intake.
Bariatric surgery may influence hedonic hunger particularly if accompanied by counseling interventions that reduce automatic hedonic impulses.
These surgeries may work in part by modifying the production of gastrointestinal hormones, particularly by increasing glucagon-like peptide-1 and peptide YY (PYY).
The reduction of ghrelin has been inconsistent for hedonic hunger.
Hedonic hunger show a positive correlation between plasma endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) and ghrelin during hedonic, but not nonhedonic
Eating and the consumption of food for pleasure is characterized by increased peripheral levels of both peptides, and this two rewarding chemical signals influences food intake and, ultimately, body mass.