Liquids have been shown to have a low satiating efficiency. The may be related to the high rate of consumption for liquids which may be higher than 200 g/min. In a number of studies, we showed that the positive relationship between eating rate and energy intake is mediated by oro-sensory exposure time. Longer sensory exposure times are consistently associated with lower food intakes. This observation maybe linked to the role of cephalic phase responses to foods. Cephalic phase responses are a set of physiological responses, which are conceived to prepare the digestive system for the incoming flow of nutrients after ingestion, with the aim of maintaining homeostasis. Results from various studies suggest that cephalic phase responses are much smaller (absent) for liquids compared to solids. It is hypothesised that the absence of cephalic phase responses to liquid foods may be one of the causes why liquid energies enter the body undetected and lead to weak energy intake compensation. This idea fits with the concept of the taste system as a nutrient-sensing system that informs the brain and the gastro-intestinal system about what is coming into our body. With liquids, this system is bypassed. Slower eating may help the human body to associate the sensory signals from food with their metabolic consequences. Foods that are eaten quickly may impair this association, and may therefore lead to overconsumption of energy, and ultimately to weight gain.
Appetite: Liquid energy: Obesity: Energy intakeIn the last few decades it has become clear that the high prevalence of obesity in developing countries is a normal behavioural response to an abnormal obesogenic environment. This obesogenic environment facilitates food (energy) intake and limits energy expenditure. Recent evidence suggests that changes in energy intake are the dominant factors in increasing prevalence of obesity since the 1980s (1,2) . Frequent exposure to food cues, large portion sizes, large available variety, high energy density and high palatability of foods are implicated in this respect (3) . This paper focuses on one additional element of our food supply and our eating environment, i.e. the high eating rate at which we can ingest a vast majority of foods in our current food supply. It is hypothesised that the high eating rate undermines our body's capacity to regulate energy intake at healthy levels. This may work by impairing the congruent relationship between sensory input and metabolic consequences. The physiological background for this may be that foods that are consumed quickly like liquids do not lead to functional cephalic phase responses (CPR). CPR are the predominantly learned physiological responses to the sensory signals from food. Before focusing on the role of eating rate in the regulation of food intake, we first discuss a simple psycho-biological model of eating behaviour that helps to explain the later reasoning in this paper.Sensory and metabolic signals involved in eating behaviour Fig. 1 illustrates how eating behaviour is guided by s...