diff --git a/src/main/java/com/orbitz/consul/cache/CacheConfig.java b/src/main/java/com/orbitz/consul/cache/CacheConfig.java
index 0677f8e5..8fa3c1d4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/orbitz/consul/cache/CacheConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/orbitz/consul/cache/CacheConfig.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ class CacheConfig {
 
     private static String TIMEOUT_AUTO_ENABLED = "timeout.autoAdjustment.enable";
     private static String TIMEOUT_AUTO_MARGIN = "timeout.autoAdjustment.margin";
+    private static String REQUEST_RATE_LIMITER = "minTimeBetweenRequests";
 
     private static final Supplier<CacheConfig> INSTANCE = Suppliers.memoize(CacheConfig::new);
 
@@ -99,4 +100,16 @@ Duration getWatchDuration() {
 
         return duration;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Gets the minimum time between two requests for caches.
+     * @throws RuntimeException if an error occurs while retrieving the configuration property.
+     */
+    Duration getMinimumDurationBetweenRequests() {
+        try {
+            return config.getDuration(REQUEST_RATE_LIMITER);
+        } catch (Exception ex) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(String.format("Error extracting config variable %s", REQUEST_RATE_LIMITER), ex);
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/orbitz/consul/cache/ConsulCache.java b/src/main/java/com/orbitz/consul/cache/ConsulCache.java
index ab8fbb42..0e43ee26 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/orbitz/consul/cache/ConsulCache.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/orbitz/consul/cache/ConsulCache.java
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package com.orbitz.consul.cache;
 
 import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting;
+import com.google.common.base.Stopwatch;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
 import com.google.common.util.concurrent.ThreadFactoryBuilder;
 import com.orbitz.consul.ConsulException;
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import java.math.BigInteger;
+import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -52,6 +54,7 @@ enum State {latent, starting, started, stopped }
             new ThreadFactoryBuilder().setDaemon(true).build());
     private final CopyOnWriteArrayList<Listener<K, V>> listeners = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<>();
     private final ReentrantLock listenersStartingLock = new ReentrantLock();
+    private final Stopwatch stopWatch = Stopwatch.createUnstarted();
 
     private final Function<V, K> keyConversion;
     private final CallbackConsumer<V> callBackConsumer;
@@ -72,8 +75,10 @@ public void onComplete(ConsulResponse<List<V>> consulResponse) {
                     if (!isRunning()) {
                         return;
                     }
+                    Duration elapsedTime = stopWatch.elapsed();
                     updateIndex(consulResponse);
-                    LOGGER.debug("Consul cache updated (index={})", latestIndex);
+                    LOGGER.debug("Consul cache updated (index={}), request duration: {} ms",
+                            latestIndex, elapsedTime.toMillis());
 
                     ImmutableMap<K, V> full = convertToMap(consulResponse);
 
@@ -107,7 +112,15 @@ public void onComplete(ConsulResponse<List<V>> consulResponse) {
                     if (state.compareAndSet(State.starting, State.started)) {
                         initLatch.countDown();
                     }
-                    runCallback();
+
+                    Duration timeToWait = CacheConfig.get().getMinimumDurationBetweenRequests().minus(elapsedTime);
+                    if (timeToWait.isNegative() || timeToWait.isZero()) {
+                        runCallback();
+                    } else {
+                        executorService.schedule(ConsulCache.this::runCallback,
+                                timeToWait.toMillis(), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
+                    }
+
                 } else {
                     onFailure(new ConsulException("Consul cluster has no elected leader"));
                 }
@@ -133,6 +146,9 @@ public void start() {
 
     public void stop() {
         State previous = state.getAndSet(State.stopped);
+        if (stopWatch.isRunning()) {
+            stopWatch.stop();
+        }
         if (previous != State.stopped) {
             executorService.shutdownNow();
         }
@@ -145,6 +161,7 @@ public void close() throws Exception {
 
     private void runCallback() {
         if (isRunning()) {
+            stopWatch.reset().start();
             callBackConsumer.consume(latestIndex.get(), responseCallback);
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index 42388bba..e1a13bce 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 com.orbitz.consul {
-  cache.backOffDelay: 10 seconds
-  cache.timeout.autoAdjustment {
-    enable: true
-    margin: 2 seconds
+  cache {
+    backOffDelay: 10 seconds
+    minTimeBetweenRequests: 0 seconds
+    timeout.autoAdjustment {
+      enable: true
+      margin: 2 seconds
+    }
   }
 }