How is intuitive eating related to self-reported and laboratory food intake in middle-aged adults?

As intuitive eating (IE) is characterized by eating in response to internal cues of hunger and satiety and by monitoring the effect of food on the body, it has been hypothesized to lead to healthy food intake. Evidence concerning its link to food intake is scarce. This experimental study investigated the relationship between IE and food intake in middle-aged adults. Fifty-five participants aged 50-70 years completed the Intuitive Eating Scale-2 to measure IE. Usual consumption frequency of fruits, vegetables, snacks and sweets was assessed as a measure of healthy self-reported food intake. A taste test of apples, carrots, coated peanuts and chocolate was conducted as a measure of healthy and total laboratory food intake. Regression analyses were performed using Frequentist and Bayesian methods of inference. In line with our hypothesis, IE was associated with healthier self-reported food intake (medium effect size: f² = 0.24). The data were 49.80 times more likely under H₁ than under H₀. Contrary to our hypotheses, IE was neither associated with healthy nor total laboratory food intake in classical regression analyses. The accompanying Bayes factors revealed inconclusive evidence. Data only allow drawing cautious conclusions about the different relationship between IE and the self-reported consumption frequency of the foods vs. the amount of these foods consumed in a single test situation. Future studies combining different measures of IE (e.g., behavioral paradigms) and self-reported (e.g., diet quality, portion sizes) and laboratory (e.g., repeated taste tests with pre-selected foods) food intake are warranted to further explore their relationship.