Figure 3. Changes in taste preference following bariatric surgery.

(A and B) Mean ± SEM liking ratings from bariatric patients using the VAS for the 12 mixtures of varying concentrations of sucrose and fat presented in the taste-preference test. (A) Ratings for sucrose content collapsed across all fat contents and (B) ratings for fat content collapsed across all sucrose concentrations before (0 weeks) and 2 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months following RYGB (red; n = 21) or VSG (blue; n = 22). Repeated-measures ANOVA identified a main effect of time for 10% (F_3,123 = 5.430, P = 0.002) and 20% (F_3,123 = 3.244, P = 0.024) added sugar and 3.4 g of fat (F_3,123 = 3.796, P = 0.012). A main group effect was found for 20% added sucrose (F_1,41 = 6.184, P = 0.017) and 10 g fat (F_1,41 = 6.992, P = 0.012). No other main effects or significant interactions were observed (P ≥ 0.071). (C) Bivariate correlations of difference scores demonstrating changes in taste-preference ratings for cream with no added sucrose (2 weeks after surgery – baseline) in patients who received RYGB (red; n = 22) or VSG (blue; n = 24) and weight-loss metrics at 6 months after surgery. ^#Significant bivariate correlations. *P < 0.05.