Who would have thought? If you eat fast, you get fat. Eating slowly saves calories. For many years, health experts have recommended eating more slowly. Eating slowly is known to improve digestion. But could you also save calories by taking more time to eat? Research from the Medical Faculty of the University of Athens and the Journal of the American Dietetic Association showed that eating slowly can actually help reduce calorie intake.
Eating speed affects body weight
The studies from Athens clearly show that the speed at which a person eats can affect their weight . In one of these studies, the researchers served each participant an equal amount of ice cream. The “fast” part of the group had to devour the ice cream within 5 minutes, while the “slow” part had 30 minutes to do so.
Before, during and after eating, blood samples were taken and the hormone levels of all study participants were examined. Of particular interest was the amount of two hormones that mediate the feeling of satiety: GLP-1 (2) and peptide YY (3).
GLP-1: Glucagon-like peptide-1 is a peptide hormone that is formed in the small intestine as soon as fat or carbohydrates arrive there. Its job is to suppress appetite so that you don’t eat endlessly. Peptide hormones are hormones that consist of amino acids. Insulin is also such a peptide hormone. Peptide YY: Peptide YY is also an appetite-suppressing peptide hormone that, like GLP-1, is formed in the intestinal mucosa.
These two hormones are produced in the intestine as soon as food containing fat or carbohydrates arrives there. GLP-1 and peptide YY are then transported to the brain via the blood, where they leave the body’s message: “I’m full!” and the person stops eating.
Those who eat slowly will feel full faster
The blood levels of satiety hormones in the “fast” group were found to be much lower than in the “slow” group. The study also found that the subjects who ate slowly consumed approximately 10 percent fewer calories than those who ate quickly.
Eating slowly triggers a much stronger increase in satiety hormones in the blood than eating quickly, which means that you eat less and feel full for longer before you feel like eating the next (snack) meal.
If you eat quickly, you will produce far fewer satiating hormones and you may still feel hungry after a hectic meal. If you had eaten the same amount more slowly, you would have felt sufficiently full or even finished the meal after eating a smaller amount.
A study with 3,000 participants was also published in The British Medical Journal, which proved that eating quickly can have a negative impact on body weight. Those test subjects who ate quickly had three times the risk of gaining excess weight than those who ate leisurely and calmly.
Eating slowly is worth it in many ways
Of course, it is difficult to fit daily meals into an often hectic schedule and then also to take plenty of time for them. However, eating slowly (at least 30 minutes for a meal) and mindfully pays off in many ways.
The meals are digested without any problems (without subsequent flatulence, heartburn, etc.), the nutrients can be better utilized and a strong feeling of satiety sets in. The latter leads to smaller amounts being eaten (per meal) and fewer or no snacks being eaten between meals, which in turn means that fewer calories are consumed overall and obesity and all its pathological consequences are prevented.
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