NeoWeight

A few weeks back I was eating dinner with a group of friends and family. When the food came out I decided to do something I’ve never done before, pay attention to how everyone ate. I know, it sounds strange; but I had read somewhere that overweight people usually eat their food much faster than skinny people. So, I decided it would be a good opportunity to see if it was true. My friends and family at dinner were of all shapes and sizes, from the skinniest to the fattest, and almost every degree in between, so I didn’t focus on my food but instead observed the eating race which was about to commence.

And crossing the finish line first was…..Dan, sure enough the most overweight man at the table. In second place, another overweight family member, and the trend seemed to actually hold very well. What I read seemed to be true, fat people tend to eat faster.

Now the question I had was, how does this fast eating contribute to weight gain? I’ve always been a fast eater myself, and at this meal I decided to experiment with slow pace eating. I found that when I thoroughly chewed every piece of food, I ate much slower, I drank a lot of water in between bights, and i became full alot faster. I didn’t eat as much! I was full.

Having chewed myself to this epiphany, I searched the internet to see if science supported what I learned. I actually found that scientists discovered that it takes about ten minutes for your brain to send signals telling you that your stomach is full. Within the first ten minutes of a meal, you can potentially cram yourself with tons of excess calories as long as you eat fast enough.

I believe that many who are overweight have just subconsciously come to the habit of eating too fast. When you eat too fast, you eat past fullness, consuming excess calories which are bound too end up on your stomach.

Other potential benefits of chewing food thoroughly:

• I can tell you from first hand experience, it really aids digestion. If you have trouble digesting your food, it may be a sign that you have just been eating too fast.
• I do not know how true this is, but I have read that thorough chewing aids the immune system (more chewing leads to an increase the secretion of parotin, which strengthens the immune system).
• Another claim I have read of is that chewing can help introduce more oxygen into the system which can help the nervous system, and lead to better thinking.

It may not be clear how thoroughly chewing your food will help you, it definitely varies from person to person; but what do you have to lose? Increase your chewing, and you will likely chew your way to some weight loss!