Eating slowly increases the postprandial response of the anorexigenic gut hormones, peptide YY and glucagon-like peptide-1.

Context: The rate at which people eat has been suggested to be positively associated with obesity, although appetite and related gut hormones have not been measured. The objective of the study was to determine whether eating the same meal at varying speeds elicits different postprandial gut peptide responses.

Design And Setting: This was a crossover study at a clinical research facility.

Study Participants: Seventeen healthy adult male volunteers participated in the study.

Intervention: A test meal consisting of 300 ml ice cream (675 kcal) was consumed in random order on two different sessions by each subject: meal duration took either 5 or 30 min.

Main Outcome Measures: The postprandial response of the orexigenic hormone ghrelin and the anorexigenic peptides peptide YY and glucagon-like peptide-1 over 210 min was assessed. Visual analog scales for the subjective feelings of hunger and fullness were completed throughout each session.

Results: Peptide YY area under the curve (AUC) was higher after the 30-min meal than after the 5-min meal (mean +/- sem AUC 5 min meal: 4133 +/- 324, AUC 30 min meal: 5250 +/- 330 pmol/liter . min, P = 0.004), as was glucagon-like peptide-1 AUC (mean +/- sem AUC 5 min meal: 6219 +/- 256, AUC 30 min meal: 8794 +/- 656 pmol/liter . min, P = 0.001). There was a trend for higher visual analog scale fullness ratings immediately after the end of the 30-min meal compared with immediately after the 5-min meal. There were no differences in ghrelin response.

Conclusions: Eating at a physiologically moderate pace leads to a more pronounced anorexigenic gut peptide response than eating very fast.