Slow and Relaxed Eating Benifits Your Health

An increasing number of books advise eating slowly - but what evidence is there to back this advice? Finally a small study has shown that eating slowly really can lead to reduced caloric intake and an increased sense of fullness.

Regardless of calorie intake - I find that if you eat slower you tend to really taste the food (obviously) and hopefully enjoy it a lot more.

Fast eating makes you fat

When you eat, it takes time for 'fullness' or 'satiety' signals to travel to your brain. If you rush your food you will eat much more before these signals kick in, resulting in your consuming more food than you need. So by just slowing down when you eat you can mange your weight better not to mention actually being able to enjoy your food more.

Digestion begins in the mouth

The digestion of carbohydrate actually begins in your mouth, and then continues in your small intestine. Protein is digested mainly in your stomach. When you chew, your stomach is sent messages about what is on its way and so can prepare the correct enzymes. So eating slowly and chewing properly improves your digestion in many ways.

Such behaviours usually develop in childhood, they say, and therefore clinicians need to inform parents on how to promote healthy eating strategies such as serving appropriate meal sizes, eating in a non-distracting environment, eating with an adult and role-modelling slow and relaxed eating.

Chinese Overview: 生活节奏快了，导致我们吃饭也象赶集似的，但是，为了你的健康，请放慢吃饭的节奏