I love chocolate chip cookies oh so much. And in most cases, I eat three cookies at once to feel happy. But recently I discovered that if I eat two cookies and then take a break for 10-15 minutes, then I have noticeably less or completely no desire to eat the third. And then I thought – why is this happening? In the end, I did a little research on what effects we get if we start eating slowly.
The most significant effect of slow food intake is the reduction in food intake, and this is followed by weight loss, which entails other health benefits, including lowering blood pressure and preventing the development of arthritis. There are also other good things about eating slowly:
1) First of all – it won’t hurt you in any way!
When you eat slowly, it does not entail any negative consequences for your health, but on the contrary, it only brings benefits.
2) Appetite reduction
When you eat properly and sparingly, your appetite gradually decreases compared to the moment you started eating. It takes 15-20 minutes for your brain to start sending you signals that you are already full. But when you have no appetite, you eat less.
3) Portion volume control
This is a direct consequence of point number 2. When you eat slowly, it becomes much easier to eat less without feeling like something has been taken from you. It just takes a while to feel full, so give your body that time. When you eat fast, you swallow too much before you feel that the moment of “enough” is somewhere far behind.
4) Weight control
Points 2 and 3 ultimately lead to the fact that you get rid of extra pounds. Portion size and speed of food absorption seem to be the main explanation for the famous “French paradox” – the relatively low rate of heart disease in France compared to the United States, despite a generally higher intake of high-calorie foods and saturated fats. There is plenty of official evidence that the French take longer to eat their portion than the Americans, although the portion is smaller. Recent Japanese studies have found strong evidence that there is a direct relationship between eating speed and body mass index and obesity.
5) Digestion
It is well known that digestion begins in the mouth, where saliva mixes with food and begins to break it down into individual elements that the body can absorb and extract energy from. If you chew your food thoroughly, then digestion is complete and smooth. In general, the slower you eat, the faster and more efficiently the digestion of food occurs. When you swallow pieces of food whole, it becomes much more difficult for your body to isolate the nutrients (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc.) from them.
6) Enjoy the taste of food!
When you eat slowly, you begin to really taste the food. At this time, you distinguish different tastes, textures and smells of food. Your food becomes more interesting. And, by the way, going back to the French experience: they pay more attention to the impression of food, and not the effect on health.
7) Quantity vs Quality
Eating slowly can be a small step towards a healthier diet. If you don’t like what you eat when you do it slowly, then maybe next time you will choose something of higher quality to enjoy the wonderful taste of this dish. Fans of quick “swallowing” are more likely to consume low-quality food and fast food.
8) Insulin resistance
Research by Japanese scientists has shown that the habit of eating quickly is directly related to insulin resistance, a hidden condition that increases the likelihood of developing diabetes and heart disease. In addition, there are many strong arguments that fast food intake is a risk factor for the development of metabolic syndrome (a combination of symptoms such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and insulin resistance).
9) Heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease
The name of this item speaks for itself: fast food can cause heartburn, especially for people suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease.