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What do fast food, drive thru's, microwave meals, instant gravy and delivery pizza have in common? They save us time and effort. And saving time is a high priority nowadays because we're often so darn busy. We use microwaves to cook our food faster than ovens, for example, we want our food fast so we can eat it and get on with our life. But, there's one problem with this scenario...
Fast Eating - A Fast Track To Overweight
If we eat our food quickly this can encourage us to overeat and lead to overweight and obesity, according to researchers. But take a look around you and you'll find every modern convenience available to help you find and eat your food as quickly as possible. Our high-speed modern environment is working against our healthy eating efforts. So what should you do?
Eat Slowly - And Help Your Appetite Control
If you can slow down the speed at which you consume your meal, you'll help to control your appetite more appropriately and this is how:
Slowly Eating Icecream Increased Appetite Suppressing Hormones
In a recent study, conducted by British and Greek researchers, 17 healthy men were asked to eat a generous portion of ice cream (sounds like hard work!) in two different conditions. In the first experiment they ate the icecream in two servings over 5 minutes; in the second experiment they ate the icecream in a number of small servings over 30 minutes.
When the icecream was eaten slowly over 30 minutes the men's blood levels of two hormones known as peptide YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) were higher for around three hours after the meal. And why does this matter to you? Well PYY and GLP-1 are released from our gut as a fullness signal to our brain, thereby reducing our appetite and subsequent food intake.
Maintaining a healthy weight would be much easier if our appetite was satisfied with smaller meals - nobody wants to feel half-hungry after a small dinner. And if levels of PYY and GLP-1 rise more significantly when eating slowly, and this helps to reduce our appetite for more food at that meal-time and/or in the following hours, then clearly there are real benefits to be gained from eating slowly.
Practical Tips To Encourage Yourself To Eat Slowly
So how do you actually slow down your eating? Here are some suggestions to get you started:
- Focus on your meal - switch off the television, ditch the newspaper or magazine, eat away from your work-desk and/or this computer screen
- Eat sitting down - no meals while multi-tasking
- Chew each mouthful of food at least 15-20 times
- Pace yourself with the slowest eater at the table
- Set a minimum target meal-time - for example, aim to make a healthy sized plate of food last 20 minutes
- And if all else fails - eat with your non-dominant hand or a set of chopsticks, although that could get messy!
And there you have it - slow eating is another great way to help you shape up for summer and it won't cost you a thing! All you have to do is just get started!
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About The Author
Jennifer Bowden Nutritionist, MSc (Dist), BSc (Hons) - Human Nutrition
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