Pavlovian Diet: Flavor-Calorie Associations and Their Role in Weight Gain and Food Consummatory Behaviors Using a Controlled Rat Model

Learning theorists are concerned that non-caloric sweeteners become unreliable signals of incoming calories, resulting in inadequate metabolic responses which causes weight gain. Using a novel paradigm, we report weight loss after consumption of highly flavored but calorically absent food items if consumed during a window of flavor and calorie restriction.