How does food consumption rate work?

Question

I found that some skill bonuses are a decreased food consumption rate. For example, Athletics -> Endurance (10 points in) decreases my food consumption rate by 25%.

However certain items seem to increase my food consumption rate, like the Brace of Fortitude.

Is this some sort of typo or misunderstanding on my part, or does this item intentionally make me consume food faster as a sort of trade-off?

Answer 1

Brace of Fortitude has a health regenerative bonus, so like you say, the food consumption increase is its side effect, which can be a bad thing if equiped on a Minotaur. Take the Minotaur for instance, they have an increased food consumption rate, the Insectoid have a decreased food consumption rate. Minotaurs need to eat more often, the Insectoid don't.

Your characters hunger increases whenever you move or are regeneraring health/energy, so you'll always want to store as much food as possible to keep your health regenerating.