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.

Objective: 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.