Many people eat their food quickly and carelessly, a habit often driven by busy schedules and constant distractions. This can lead to weight gain and other health issues. However, adopting a slower eating pace may be a much smarter approach, offering a number of benefits for weight management and overall well-being. This article explores the advantages of eating slowly and provides practical tips to cultivate this beneficial habit.
The Link Between Eating Speed and Weight
Studies have consistently shown that people who eat quickly tend to weigh more than those who don’t. In fact, fast eaters are up to 115% more likely to be obese. They also tend to gain more weight over time, which may be partially due to eating too fast.
One study involving over 4,000 middle-aged adults found that those who self-identified as very fast eaters tended to be heavier and had gained the most body weight since the age of 20. Another study, which examined weight change in 529 men over 8 years, revealed that fast eaters gained more than twice as much weight as those who described themselves as slow or medium-paced eaters.
These findings highlight a clear correlation between eating speed and weight gain, suggesting that slowing down the pace of eating can be a valuable strategy for weight management.
In short: Studies show that people who eat quickly tend to be heavier and gain more weight over time, compared with slower eaters.
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Hormonal Control of Appetite and Satiety
Appetite and calorie intake are largely controlled by hormones. After a meal, the gut suppresses a hormone called ghrelin, which controls hunger, while also releasing fullness hormones. These hormones signal to the brain that you have eaten, reducing appetite, making you feel full, and helping you stop eating. This process takes about 20 minutes, so slowing down gives your brain the time it needs to receive these signals.
Eating too quickly often leads to overeating, as the brain doesn’t have enough time to receive fullness signals. Eating slowly has been shown to decrease the amount of food consumed during the meal due to an increase in fullness hormones.
In one study, 17 healthy people with a normal weight ate 10.5 ounces (300 grams) of ice cream on two occasions. During the first, they ate the ice cream within 5 minutes, and during the second, they took 30 minutes. Their reported fullness and levels of fullness hormones increased significantly more after eating the ice cream slowly.
A follow-up study, this time in people with diabetes, as well as overweight or obesity, slowing down did not increase fullness hormones. However, it significantly increased rates of fullness. Other research shows that young people with obesity experience higher levels of fullness hormones when they eat slowly.
In short: Eating slowly increases the levels of gut hormones responsible for feeling full, which may help reduce calorie intake.
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The Role of Chewing in Weight Management
To eat slowly, you need to chew your food thoroughly before swallowing. This can help you reduce calorie intake and lose weight. In fact, several studies have found that people with weight problems tend to chew their food less than people with normal weight do.
In one study, researchers asked 45 people to eat pizza until full while chewing at different rates - normal, 1.5 times more than normal, and twice the normal rate. The average calorie intake decreased by 9.5% when people chewed 1.5 times more than normal and nearly 15% when they chewed twice as much as usual.
Another small study noted that calorie intake decreased and fullness hormone levels increased when the number of chews per bite increased from 15 to 40. However, there may be a limit to how much chewing you can do and still enjoy a meal. One study found that chewing each bite for 30 seconds reduced snacking later on - but also significantly reduced meal enjoyment.
In short: Chewing food thoroughly slows down your eating pace and reduces the number of calories you take in, which can lead to weight loss.
Additional Benefits of Eating Slowly
Eating slowly may also improve your health and quality of life in other ways, including:
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- Increasing your enjoyment of food
- Improving your digestion
- Helping you better absorb nutrients
- Making you feel calmer and more in control
- Reducing your levels of stress
In short: There are many other good reasons to eat more slowly, including improved digestion and reduced stress.
Practical Tips for Eating More Slowly
Here’s some advice to help you start eating more slowly:
- Avoid extreme hunger. It’s hard to eat slowly when you’re very hungry. To prevent extreme hunger, keep some healthy snacks on hand.
- Chew more. Count how many times you normally chew a bite of food, then double that amount. You may be surprised at how little you usually chew.
- Set your utensils down. Putting down your fork between bites of food will help you eat more slowly and savor each bite.
- Eat foods that need chewing. Focus on fibrous foods that require a lot of chewing, such as vegetables, fruits, and nuts. Fiber can also promote weight loss.
- Drink water. Make sure to drink plenty of water or other zero-calorie beverages with your meals.
- Use a timer. Set your kitchen timer for 20 minutes and do your best not to finish before the buzzer goes off. Aim for a slow, consistent pace throughout the meal.
- Turn off your screens. Try to avoid electronic devices, such as television and smartphones, while eating.
- Take deep breaths. If you begin to eat too quickly, take some deep breaths. This will help you refocus and get back on track.
- Practice mindful eating. Mindful eating techniques help you pay more attention to what you’re eating and gain control of your cravings.
- Be patient. Change takes time, as it takes about 66 days for a new behavior to become a habit.
In short: With practice and a few tried-and-true techniques, eating slowly will become easier and more sustainable.
The Importance of Mindful Eating
Eating a meal quickly is a common habit for most people, especially given that so much of our lives are spent rushing from one thing to the next. Whether it be sporting events, dropping off and picking up the kids from school, or rushing off to a work meeting, we always seem to be moving towards the next scheduled event with little focus on fueling our bodies amid the commotion. Although easier said than done, it’s important to slow down while eating and value a meal as its own experience, rather than having it be a time for rushing or distractions. Research shows that eating slower and more intentionally, also known as mindful eating, is better for your health, too.
How to Cultivate Slower Eating Habits
By challenging yourself to slow down your eating speed, you’re adopting healthier mealtime habits and improving the quality of your healthy eating experience. If you’re unsure about what it means to slow down your eating speed, check out the following tips for savoring the flavor of food and being more in tune to your body’s natural signals.
Create a Distraction-Free Eating Environment
Eating while watching TV or browsing on your phone can serve as a negative interruption to the eating experience. Try avoiding technology or other distractions while you eat, as it can make it more difficult to listen to your fullness cues and slow your bites. Choose a location where you can sit comfortably, set your plate down on a flat surface, and observe all aspects of eating your meal without distractions.
Set and Savor
Put your utensils down after a few bites of food. You can also try pausing throughout your meal by pushing your plate away for a minute and then pulling it back in front of you. These simple actions are helpful ways to build in more time while eating and improve your awareness of food textures, tastes, and all the senses activated by eating.
Chew Well for Better Digestion
Take time to chew your food more mindfully and thoroughly before swallowing. Observe how many chews you need for each bite and avoid feeling rushed. Chewing well not only assists with the mechanical digestion of food, but it also reduces how quickly you reach for the next bite.
Mimic a Slow Eater
If your meal includes other people, try identifying the person with the slowest eating pace at the table. Mimic the actions of this individual to reduce your own speed and try matching their pace. This supports the reduction of your eating speed, and it also helps you better enjoy the company of others around the table.
The Impact of Eating Rate on Hormones and Satiety in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes
A study was conducted to assess the effect of slow spaced eating on hunger and satiety ratings and hormonal mediators in patients with T2DM treated with metformin. Twenty overweight and obese patients were recruited from a university hospital diabetes outpatient clinic. The patients consumed the same standard test meal of 300 mL of ice-cream (675 kcal, 59% of kcal fat, 33% carbohydrates, 8% protein) at different rates. In one session, the meal was weighed and divided into two equal portions of 150 mL, which were consumed 5 min apart, whereas in the other it was divided into seven equal portions of ∼43 mL, given to the participant every 5 min and consumed over 30 min.
Fullness VAS ratings were higher for the 30 min meal at the 90 min time point and remained so until the end of the study session. Hunger VAS ratings were lower for the 30 min meal at the 90', 150', and 180' time points. The study concluded that slow spaced eating increased satiety and suppressed hunger more effectively than rapid eating in overweight and obese patients with T2DM. This was not accompanied by statistically significant differences in GLP-1, PYY, or ghrelin responses.