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Slow Down to Slim Down: The Science Behind Eating Slowly
Weight loss is one topic that has numerous myths and facts attached to it. Eating slowly helps to lose weight. You might have come across this statement multiple times. So, is it a myth or a fact? Let’s find out.
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Does Eating Slowly Help You Lose Weight?
Yes, there are numerous benefits of eating slowly. When you savour your food in a relaxed manner, it slows digestion and releases hormones that signal fullness and satiety to your brain. Eating slowly also gives your gut enough time to release digestive enzymes that allow healthy digestion and satisfy hunger. The gut regulates the ghrelin hormone, which signals the brain to stop eating and helps achieve fullness. This process takes around 20 minutes, so eating slowly gives your brain enough time to receive these signals and thus prevents overeating. [1] Let’s elaborate on all the advantages of eating slowly to relax and enjoy your next meal.
Benefits of Eating Slowly for Weight Loss
When it comes to eating slow vs eating fast, eating slow not only wins but is also one of the easiest habits you can adopt for weight loss. Here is how this habit will assist in weight loss.
1.Increases Fullness Hormones:
Hormones primarily regulate our diet and eating habits. The reason we tend to overeat is because our erratic eating habits do not let the hormones do their work properly. If you enjoy a meal slowly, it helps in the secretion of PYY and GLP-1 hormones by endocrine L cells in the small bowel. These hormones help achieve appetite satiation and thus prevent overeating. [2]
2. Decreases Caloric Intake:
You eat slowly when you chew your food properly. This helps in the proper breakdown of the food and appropriate nutrition absorption. So, one of the significant benefits of eating slowly is that it helps in lower energy intake and higher satiety at meal completion. [3]
3. Enhances Food Enjoyment:
Most of us are guilty of having our food while watching TV or scrolling through our phones. This takes the flavours away from the food. Keep your gadgets aside and slowly eat your food to enjoy the flavours and aroma. This makes the meal experience pleasurable and helps control portion size by preventing overeating.
4. Improves Digestion Naturally:
Chewing your food slowly helps produce more saliva in your mouth, leading to the proper breakdown of fats and carbohydrates. Slow chewing also helps digestive enzymes work better, thus aiding digestion naturally. In research that studied 45 people and their capacities to eat pizza, they found that average calorie intake decreased by about 15 per cent when people chewed the pizza twice as much as usual. [4] Bloating is another common digestive issue and even that can be overcome with slow chewing. When you chew quickly, you swallow more air, leading to gas and bloating.
5. Boosts Nutrient Absorption:
If you are gobbling up your food in a hurry, you are not allowing your body to absorb its nutrients effectively. Chewing your food at least 20-30 times is important so that it breaks down properly for easy digestion and nutrient absorption. This is especially important if you are consuming complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. These complex carbohydrates digest slower than simple carbohydrates and thus require prolonged chewing.
6. Promotes Calmness and Control:
Most of us consume our food like it is a task to get over with. This habit disconnects us from the food we eat. When you sit quietly with your food, concentrating on the flavours, aromas and texture, you develop a healthy relationship with your food. This facilitates mindful eating and has a calming effect on you. Being aware of every aspect of your food helps you control your appetite and maintain health.
7. Reduces Stress Levels Effectively:
Are you planning to have a 5-minute quick lunch break because you have a stressful meeting ahead? Try doing the exact opposite. Eat your meal slowly in a calm environment, and you will feel your stress melting away. Research indicates that chewing your food slowly reduces chronic stress by lowering cortisol levels. [5]
Tips for Eating More Slowly To Lose Weight
Now, you must be wondering how to eat slower. You can follow these tips to help yourself inculcate the habit of eating slowly.
1. Eat your meals when you are only moderately hungry:
Don’t let your meals get delayed. If you are having your food when you are already extremely hungry, you tend to eat quickly. Setting your meal timings and following the same daily routine is best.
2. Chew more:
Chewing more will not just help you eat slower but also digest your food better. Count the number of times you generally chew a bite and then double the number of chews.
3. Put your forks and spoons down:
Try to relax in between your meals. Put the spoon down and give yourself some time to reflect on your meal or any other thought that you need to cater to. Then, pick up the spoon again and resume eating. This habit will elongate your meal time.
4. Eat foods that require more chewing:
Fibrous foods such as fruits and vegetables promote weight loss and maintain digestive health because they require rigorous chewing. Include these foods in your diet to reap the advantages of eating slowly.
5. Take a sip during meals:
Try to enjoy your meals with your favourite zero-calorie beverage such as water, lime water, tonic water or green tea. Taking a few sips during your meals helps you eat slowly and keeps your portion size under control.
6. Use a timer:
Set a timer for 20 minutes and place it on the dining table while you eat. Do not finish your meal before the timer buzzes. This will help you enjoy a nice, slow meal.
7. Stay away from gadgets:
Catch up on your Instagram feed while having a meal is tempting. But try to avoid the screen, as we tend to overeat while watching something.
Takeaway
Eating slowly is a habit that will bring holistic wellness and stay with you for life once you inculcate it properly. Training yourself to eat slowly takes around a month of continuous effort, so stay patient. Plan your meals, set aside 20-30 minutes and truly enjoy every bite to lose weight healthily.
Frequently Asked Questions
Eating slowly helps you lose weight by allowing time for the brain to signal fullness, potentially leading to reduced calorie intake, and by improving digestion, which can aid nutrient absorption and satiety.
Yes, eating slowly helps you eat less as you chew more and attain satiety while consuming fewer calories.
Ideally, your meal time should be at least 20 minutes. If you finish your meals in less time, you are eating too fast. You might also feel bloated after a fast meal, so you can figure out if you ate too fast.
Chew your food at least 30 times before swallowing it. This will help in the proper absorption of nutrients and improve digestion.
When you eat your food slowly, you allow the digestive enzymes of the saliva to blend with the food. This helps in proper digestion and attaining satiety.
You should spend at least 20 minutes on each meal.
If you have limited meal time, you can have a small portion of the meal slowly and later, you can have a healthy snack when you have time.
Slow eating is a concept that applies to all kinds of diets. It has no special association with keto or vegan diets.
No, it doesn’t reduce cravings but helps attain satiety, so naturally, cravings will reduce.
Yes, eating too fast can cause weight gain and bloating.
