Eating Slowly to Lose Weight

The Weight Loss Benefit of Eating Slowly

By Stathis Denou, PhD

Eating slow helps in losing weight!

Believe it or not but mom was right. It’s actually better and healthier to eat slowly and chew all your food thoroughly. Recent research has actually shown that when people eat too fast, they consume more calories.

Research Shows That Slow Eating Equals Less Overall Calorie Intake

Studies published since 2008 have been showcasing the evidence behind the health benefits of eating slowly. According to research from the British Medical Journal, eating quickly and eating until full was directly associated with being overweight. In fact, a combination of the two habits was shown to play a part on actually becoming over weight.

This study evaluated more than 4,100 men and women from Japan who were asked to fill out surveys that asked questions about their diet history and overall cardiovascular risk. The men and women were asked about the speed to which they ate – very slow, slow, medium, fast and very fast – as well as if they ate until they were full.

Results of the study found that those who said they ate fast were the heaviest, with the highest body mass index and the largest overall food intake as compared to the others in the study who said they ate more slowly.

It’s True: Slowing Your Pace of Eating Helps You to Consume Less Food

Another study published in 2008 revealed similar findings. Published in Journal of the American Dietetic Association, this study discovered that if people changed their eating habits slightly by taking small bites, putting down the utensils between bites and chewing all food thoroughly, these small steps help maximized their overall feeling of being full after eating.

Thirty healthy women from the University of Rhode Island participated in this study. These women were instructed to eat a generous 600 gram portion of lunch with water at two different times. During the first meal, the women were asked to eat as much of the food as they wanted until they were full. However, they needed to eat it as fast as possible using a large soup spoon. They were instructed not to pause between bites.  During the second meal, they were asked to eat the food more slowly, using a small spoon and chewing each serving at least 20 to 30 times before swallowing.

While the time to eat the meal took about 20 minutes longer when eating slowly, the study found that the participants ate less food as compared to eating quickly.  Surprisingly, when eating quickly the women reported feeling less satisfied although they ate more food overall.  They also felt that eating more slowly was a more overall pleasant experience as compared to eating fast.

Mom Was Right: It’s Better to Take Your Time While Eating

A more recent study published in the January 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism reinforces the findings of these previous studies. This was the first study to find that there are possible physiological reasons behind feeling full after a slow consumption of food.

In this study, a total of 17 healthy men ate the same meal consisting of 300 ml of ice cream, but were told to eat it under two different conditions. In the first condition, the meal was divided into two equal portions and the men ate the first portion, waited five minutes and then ate the second portion. Under the second condition, the meal was divided into seven equal portions and over 30 minutes the men ate one of the seven portions every five minutes.

Through the use of blood samples taken before and in 30-minute intervals after eating the meal for a total of three and a half hours, the study found that the body released higher amounts of appetite suppressing hormones after the 30-minute meal than after the 5-minute meal. The higher level of these hormones (glucagon-like peptide-1 and peptide YY) made the men feel fuller after the 30-minute meal compared to the 5-minute meal.

The Take-Away Point:  If you are trying to loose those extra pounds, it may be beneficial for you to take your time when eating breakfast, lunch or dinner, or any snack in between. While it may take more time out of your day, the overall health benefits of eating more slowly will actually pay off.  Guess mom knew what she was talking about!

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Stathis Denou, PhD, believes strongly in taking recent medical research related to healthy eating, diet and weight loss and presenting it to the public in accessible and informative ways. In his website he presents information on weight loss programs and offers a Nutrisystem coupon discount.

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