Eating rate of commonly consumed foods promotes food and energy intake

We investigated the eating rate of commonly consumed foods and the associations with food intake and macronutrient composition. Ingestion time (s) of 50 g of 45 foods was measured to assess eating rate (g/min), after which ad libitum food intake (g) was measured. Thirteen men and 24 women (aged 23.3 (SD 3.4) y, BMI 21.7 (SD 1.7) kg/m(2)) participated, each testing 7 foods in separate sessions. We observed large differences in eating rate between foods, ranging from 4.2 (SD 3.7) to 631 (SD 507) g/min. Eating rate was positively associated with food intake (beta = 0.55) and energy intake (beta = 0.001). Eating rate was inversely associated with energy density (beta = -0.00047) and positively with water content (beta = 0.011). Carbohydrate (beta = -0.012), protein (beta = -0.021) and fiber content (beta = -0.087) were inversely associated with eating rate, whereas fat was not. This study showed that when foods can be ingested rapidly, food and energy intake is high. People may therefore be at risk of overconsumption, when consuming foods with a high eating rate. Considering the current food supply, where many foods have a high eating rate, long-term effects of eating rate on energy balance should be investigated. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.