Understanding food structure and function in developing food for appetite control

Abstract

There is an emerging interest in the impact of food structure on digestion behaviour and its relationship to human nutrition. The interactions between individual macronutrients (protein, fat and carbohydrate) in many cases control the rate of digestive processes such as proteolysis and lipolysis. Macronutrient interactions can also control the material properties of ingested foods which can influence post-prandial metabolic responses. This review summarises the current research into how the structure of individual macronutrients impacts digestion and how this relates to appetite. © Journal compilation © 2008 Dietitians Association of Australia.