The Lunch Study: the Combined Effects of Food Texture and Portion Size on Intake

Meal size is strongly influenced by a number of external features of the food environment which can promote over-consumption, such as the availability of palatable energy dense foods and large portion sizes. The current research aimed to investigate whether natural food-based differences in texture could be used to slow down eating rate and reduce intake from large portions. A four-session randomised crossover study assessed the effect of faster vs. slower eating rate, achieved through manipulating food texture, on ad-libitum consumption (weight and calories) of a meal, alone and in combination with variations in meal portion size (regular vs. large)