Effect of Fibre on Short-term Satiety: Experimental Study

The aim of this experiment is to measure the effect of fibre on short-term satiety. In this practical you will be asked to eat ONE of the following:

· White bread (low fibre)
· Seeded bread (high fibre)
· White Gluten-free bread (those with gluten intolerance only)

Please inform the module leader in advance if you are allergic to any foods. You will be asked to attend the session in a fasted state (i.e. having not had anything to eat or drink for the previous 10 hours). Before eating and at periodic intervals (15, 30, 45, 60, 90 mins) during the test session (90 minutes) you will be asked to record your subjective feelings of hunger on visual analogue scales (VAS) and measure your blood glucose level (BG) using an automatic blood glucose analyser. The VAS is a 100mm continuous line anchored at each end.

The question asked will be, 'How hungry do you feel?'. You will be instructed to place a mark at the point along the line that corresponds to your subjective feeling.

The VAS measurement sheets can be found on Moodle. Measure the responses made on the VAS in mm and plot against time. The VAS score is determined by measuring in millimetres from the left hand end of the line to the point that you marked (see example below).

How hungry do you feel?

Not at all hungry Extremely hungry Blood samples will be obtained by finger prick with an autolancet followed by gentle massage to promote the appearance of small drops of blood at the skin’s surface. The first drop of blood is discarded and then 5 µl of blood will be taken which will then will be measured using an automatic blood glucose analyser (HemoCue, Glucose 201).

PRACTICAL REPORT

2000 words MAXIMUM (excluding flowchart, data tables, references and appendix). Write a critical report based on the group results. Your critical report should include a Title, Abstract, Introduction, Methods (flowchart only), Results, Discussion and References.

1. ABSTRACT (200)

Provide a 200 word structured abstract of the practical. Subheadings should include introduction (including AIM), methods, results and conclusion.

2. INTRODUCTION (~200-300)

Establish the context, background and/or importance of the topic. Give a brief synopsis of the relevant literature and list the study aim(s).

3. METHODS

Provide a BRIEF overview of flowchart/protocol diagram of the methods (see example below).

4. RESULTS (~300-400)

Present and describe the results in a systematic and detailed way. There should be no interpretation of the results. All figures and tables should be numbered and given a title. All visual data must be referred to in text.

· From the class data of the VAS measurements, calculate the mean values for hunger and also calculate the BG at each time point (0, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 90 min).
· Plot 2 graphs using the mean values for hunger and BG on the Y-axis and time on the Xaxis, comparing the white and seeded bread.
· Using the class data, perform an Independent Samples T-test (in SPSS) or non-parametric equivalent between the white and seeded bread. This is to find out whether there is a significant difference for hunger and BG at any time point between white and seeded bread.
· For your own individual data only, plot the graphs for Hunger and BG showing the change from baseline on the Y-axis and time on the X-axis. Calculate the area under the curve (based on your individual measurement only; for a sample calculation, refer to the AUC sheet on Moodle). Attach this as an Appendix, showing your graph and the calculation in detail. If part of the data is below the baseline (see triangle E in the AUC sheet), use absolute values in the calculation instead of negative values.

5. DISCUSSION

State/Identify the main research findings. Interpret and weave the results together to show what they mean and link the results to other research. Provide a critical assessment of the methods used and some suggested improvements in methods.