Adherence to lifestyle changes like a healthy diet in type 2 diabetes patients is low and can result in a low Quality of Life. Previous research has shown that intranasal insulin, as a new form of...Show moreAdherence to lifestyle changes like a healthy diet in type 2 diabetes patients is low and can result in a low Quality of Life. Previous research has shown that intranasal insulin, as a new form of treatment, can have a side-effect of potentially decreasing hunger in food consumption in healthy men, but not in healthy women. The effect of intranasal insulin, and possible gender-specific responses, has not been investigated in diabetes type 2 patients yet. This is important as it might result in a decreased disease burden, risk of complications through increased treatment adherence to lifestyle changes. Research questions were: 1) Is the effect of intranasal insulin on food consumption different for women and men? and 2) Is the possible gender-effect of intranasal insulin on food consumption also found in diabetes type 2 patients and healthy subjects? It was hypothesized that men would eat less than women as a response to intranasal insulin in both the healthy participants as well as the type 2 diabetes patients. The study had a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled design. The 26 participants came to the lab on two consecutive days. On day one, half of them were given the intranasal insulin spray and half were given a placebo spray. On day two, all were administered the placebo spray. Afterwards, participants were presented with bowls of healthy snacks on both days. A 2x2x2 repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted to analyse possible gender effects. 1) there was no main effect of gender (p= .302), nor significant difference in food consumption (p= .213). The interaction was non-significant (p= .552). 2) there was no main effect of gender (p = .645), no main effect of group (p = .982), and no significant difference in food consumption (p = .400). The interaction was non-significant (p = .693). No gender-effects in food consumption as a response to intranasal insulin could be found. Putting the study on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in unknown group membership and a small sample size. Future research may add a questionnaire measuring self-efficacy and intention to investigate behavioural tendencies on (un)healthy food consumption as they could moderate the effect of intranasal insulin.Show less