Appetite and Food Intake: Behavioral and Physiological Considerations

A complex interplay of social, economic, psychological, nutritional and physiological forces influence ingestive behavior and demand an integrated research approach to advance understanding of healthful food choices and those that contribute to health disorders  including obesity-related chronic diseases.
Taking a multifaceted approach, Appetite and Food Intake: Behavioral and Physiological Considerations summarizes current understanding of environmental and physiological determinants of food choice and energy balance. The editors juxtapose pairs of chapters drawn from animal research and human clinical findings to highlight the synergies, and gaps in research approaches to highlight current knowledge and identify areas of needed and promising study. 
Beginning with a theoretical consideration of the purported existence and functionality of mechanisms for the regulation of feeding and energy balance, the book progresses through a more detailed consideration of knowledge related to mechanisms recruited from the initial thought of eating through post-ingestive events. Chapters address preingestive motivational, cognitive, and orosensory processes that influence food selection and continue with critical reviews of intestinal and postabsorptive signaling systems and nutrient metabolism. The book concludes with a consideration of how the micro- and macro-nutrient composition of foods influences ingestive behavior and the physiologic consequences of consumption.
By comparing research from basic and applied scientific disciplines and knowledge from animal models and human trials, the editors provide a critical review of current knowledge of ingestive behavior and future research needs.

"... covers the multitude of perspectives, research, and approaches being analyzed in the field of food intake and behavioral and physiological considerations. ... a comprehensive review of up-to-date research to assist clinicians in better understanding how to evaluate appetite and food intake. ... Each chapter is written by scientists involved with the current research on their respective topics. ... Understanding the dynamic network and feedback mechanisms affecting intake can be an important key in the treatment of obesity, eating disorders, and metabolic interactions in the human body. The use of figures was helpful in comprehending the material presented and key research results in a visual form. The book is well organized, detailed, and thought provoking. The strength of this book is that it contains current scientific literature... most appropriate for anyone working with weight management, eating disorders, and research."

―Kathryn Fink, MS, RD, LD, Professional Nutrition Therapists, Dallas, Texas, in Nutrition in Clinical Practice, Vol. 24, No. 2, April/May 2009