What Does a Satiety Trial Look Like?
October 2023We frequently conduct appetite and satiety trials at INQUIS. There are several different types of trial design for assessing feelings of fullness. The most common trial design that we use at INQUIS involves subjective measures of satiety assessed using validated Visual Analogue Scales to assess feelings of hunger, fullness and motivation to eat. These questionnaires are administered at specific time intervals throughout the acute test, which lasts several hours after consuming the test food.
Our Senior Scientists perform a power calculation based on the products being tested to determine the appropriate sample size for the trial. There are generally a minimum of 40 research participants and the number of participants can be as high as 80 or more, depending on the products being studied and the magnitude of the differences between them. At the end of the trial, the statistical analysis will demonstrate how long a product will keep the consumer full for and any differences between products in their ability to suppress hunger.
There are additional types of design for satiety trials, some of which include objective measurement in addition to the subjective measures, such as examining ad libitum food intake after consuming a test food and metabolic measures such as postprandial glucose and insulin, or appetite markers such as GLP-1, Ghrelin, etc.