Abstract
INTRODUCTION: It is not clear whether patients with postprandial symptoms enjoy the meal. METHODS: Prospective trial in patients with postprandial distress syndrome and healthy controls, comparing their responses with stepwise ingestion of a comfort meal. RESULTS: Healthy individuals (N = 18) enjoyed the meal and experienced digestive well-being. Despite their symptoms, some patients enjoyed the meal as much as healthy individuals (n = 9), while others did not (n = 15), and both groups experienced the same degree of early satiety, fullness, and discomfort. DISCUSSION: The hedonic response to meal ingestion is preserved in a proportion of patients with postprandial distress syndrome.