It’s not just what you eat that can make you gain weight – it’s also HOW you eat. New research published in the British Journal of Medical Research Online First has shown that people who eat fast treble their risk of being overweight. Scientists have suggested that eating on the run and the couch potato lifestyles of fast food, larger portions and TV dinners and the demise of family mealtimes may be significant factors in growing levels of obesity. Eating fast can make you fat even if the calories consumed are less than people who eat slower. It is thought that the joint impact of eating quickly and until full overrides brain signals which encourage more self control.

Researchers from Osaka University Japan carried out a study of 3,200 Japanese men and women aged 30 to 69 between 2003 and 2006. Everyone was sent a diet history questionnaire. Half of the men and 58 per cent of the women said they normally ate until they were full; just under half of men and a third of women said they ate quickly. The people who said they ate until full and quickly had higher levels of body fat than those who did not eat until full and did not eat quickly. In fact both men and women in this group were three times more likely to be overweight than those who said this was not the way they ate.

We have always known the importance of chewing food for a long time and eating slowly and I have always urged my patients to take the time to chew their food when eating a meal. If you eat slowly then there is feedback from the brain that tells your stomach you have had enough and this stops you eating until you are full. It typically takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to register being full so have a break between courses. Put your knife and fork down between bites. The longer you chew your food the fuller you will feel; some experts recommend chewing a mouthful up to 20 times because chewing breaks down molecules exposing them to saliva which is the start of the digestive process. Also never eat while reading or watching TV. You need to concentrate on your food so that your brain can get signals about how much you are eating. Finally, don’t talk and eat at the same time, as swallowing air makes digestion more difficult and can give you more flatulence and bloating because of the intake of air. This doesn’t mean you should avoid conversation during meals it just means you should talk when your mouth isn’t full.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 1st, 2009 at 3:30 am and is filed under In the News, Weight Loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.