Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Opinion
  • Published:

Slow food, fast food and the control of food intake

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 6, pages 290–293 (2010)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

This Perspective focuses on two elements of our food supply and eating environment that facilitate high energy intake: a high eating rate and distraction of attention from eating. These two elements are believed to undermine our body's capacity to regulate its energy intake at healthy levels because they impair the congruent association between sensory signals and metabolic consequences. The findings of a number of studies show that foods that can be eaten quickly lead to high food intake and low satiating effects—the reason being that these foods only provide brief periods of sensory exposure, which give the human body insufficient cues for satiation. Future research should focus on the underlying physiological, neurological and molecular mechanisms through which our current eating environment affects our control of food intake.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Factors that affect eating behavior.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Swinburn, B. A. et al. Estimating the changes in energy flux that characterize the rise of obesity prevalence. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 89, 1723–1728 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Westerterp, K. R. & Speakman, J. R. Physical activity energy expenditure has not declined since the 1980s and matches energy expenditures of wild mammals. Int. J. Obes. 32, 1256–1263 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Carnell, S. & Wardle, J. Appetitive traits and child obesity: measurement, origins and implications for intervention. Proc. Nutr. Soc. 67, 343–355 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Woods, S. C. The eating paradox: how we tolerate food. Psychol. Rev. 98, 488–505 (1991).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Herman, C. P. & Polivy, J. External cues in the control of food intake in human: the sensory-normative distinction. Physiol. Behav. 94, 722–728 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Strubbe, J. H. & Woods, S. C. The timing of meals. Psychol. Rev. 111, 128–141 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Woods, S. C. The control of food intake: behavioral versus molecular perspectives. Cell. Metab. 9, 489–498 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Drazen, D. L., Vahl, T. P., D'Alessio, D. A., Seeley, R. J. & Woods, S. C. Effects of a fixed meal pattern on ghrelin secretion: evidence for a learned response independent of nutrient status. Endocrinology 147, 23–30 (2006).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Cordain, L. et al. Origins and evolution of the Western diet: health implication for the 21st century. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 81, 341–354 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Haber, G. B. Depletion and disruption of dietary fibre. Effects on satiety, plasma-glucose, and serum-insulin. Lancet 2, 679–682 (1977).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Ruijschop, R. M., Burgering, M. J., Jacobs, M. A. & Boelrijk, A. E. Retro-nasal aroma release depends on both subject and product differences: a link to food intake regulation? Chem. Senses 34, 395–403 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Raben, A., Vasilaras, T. H., Moller, A. C. & Astrup, A. Sucrose compared with artificial sweeteners: differents effect on ad libitum food intake and body weight after 10 wk of supplementation in overweight subjects. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 76, 721–729 (2002).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Chen, L. et al. Reduction in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with weight loss: the PREMIER trial. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 89, 1299–1306 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Mattes, R. Soup and satiety. Physiol. Behav. 17, 739–747 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Zijlstra, N., Mars, M., de Wijk, R. A., Westerterp-Plantenga, M. S. & de Graaf, C. The effect of viscosity on ad libitum food intake. Int. J. Obes. 32, 676–683 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. De Wijk, R. A., Zijlstra, N., Mars, M., de Graaf, C. & Prinz, J. F. The effects of food viscosity on bite size, bite effort and food intake. Physiol. Behav. 95, 527–532 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Ruijschop, R. M. Retro-nasal aroma stimulation and satiation. Ph.D. Thesis, Maastricht University (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Zijlstra, N., de Wijk, R. A., Mars, M., Stafleu, A. & de Graaf, C. Effect of bite size and oral processing time of a semisolid food on satiation. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 90, 269–275 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Weijzen, P. L., Smeets, P. A. & de Graaf, C. Sip-size of orangeade: effects on intake and on sensory-specific satiation. Br. J. Nutr. 102, 1091–1097 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Zandian, M., Ioakimidis, I., Bergh, C., Brodin, U. & Sodersten, P. Decelerated and linear eaters: effects of eating rate on food intake and satiety. Physiol. Behav. 96, 270–275 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Viskaal-Van Dongen, M. & de Graaf, C. Eating rate in relation to ad libitum food intake of different food products [abstract 07.3]. Delegate Manual of the 8th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium, Florence, Italy, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Mars, M., Hogenkamp, P. S., Gosses, A. M., Stafleu, A. & de Graaf, C. Effect of viscosity on learned satiation. Physiol. Behav. 98, 60–66 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Kokkinos, A. et al. Eating slowly increases the postprandial response of the anorexigenic gut hormones, peptide YY and glucagon-like peptide-1. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 95, 333–337 (2009).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Wansink, B. Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think (Bantam Dell, New York, 2006).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Wansink, B., Painter, J. E. & North, J. Bottomless bowls: why visual cues of portion size may influence intake. Obes. Res. 13, 93–100 (2005).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Viskaal-Van Dongen, M., de Graaf, C., Siebelink, E. & Kok, F. J. Hidden fat facilitates passive overconsumption. J. Nutr. 139, 394–399 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Hetherington, M. M., Anderson, A. S., Norton, G. N. & Newson, L. Situational effects on meal intake: A comparison of eating alone and eating with others. Physiol. Behav. 88, 498–505 (2006).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Brunstrom, J. M. & Mitchell, G. l. Effects of distraction on the development of satiety. Br. J. Nutr. 96, 761–769 (2006).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Veldhuizen, M. G., Bender, G., Constable, R. T. & Small, D. M. Trying to detect taste in a tasteless solution: modulation of early gustatory cortex by attention to taste. Chem. Senses 32, 568–581 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Wardle, J. & Carnell, S. Appetite is a heritable phenotype associated with adiposity. Ann. Behav. Med. 38 (Suppl. 1), 25–30 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, PO Box 8129, 6700, EV Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Cees de Graaf & Frans J. Kok

Authors
  1. Cees de Graaf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Frans J. Kok
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cees de Graaf.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

de Graaf, C., Kok, F. Slow food, fast food and the control of food intake. Nat Rev Endocrinol 6, 290–293 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2010.41

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2010.41

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing