Do you eat regularly in less than 20 minutes? Please note, this apparently banal reflex could have serious consequences on your health. For Leslie Heinberg, specialist at the Cleveland Clinic behavioral health center, “It takes at least 20 minutes in the stomach to communicate to the brain, via a multitude of hormonal signals, that it is satisfied“. If you finish your plate before this time, you miss these signals … and often end up with too much.
Why is it a problem?
However, this frantic pace is not without risks. Swallowing without chewing is ingesting too much air, exposing themselves to bloating and disturbing digestion. Do not correctly chew food can also compromise digestion, which means that you will not draw all the nutrients from your food. Worse still: pieces of poorly chewed food can be stuck in the esophagus. Finally, studies also point to an obvious link between food speed and obesity, indicating that people who eat the most slowly are the least likely to grow.
Why do we eat so fast?
Often, by automation or lack of attention. “”If we eat while watching television, we tend to continue our consumption until the end of advertising or the program“, observes Leslie Heinberg. Our concentration is diverted, and satiety goes unnoticed. Result: we eat more than necessary, without even realizing it.
It takes little to slow down the pace
However, it is possible to regain control. Eating slowly is a habit to cultivate. Leslie Heinberg advises some simple tips like using her non-dominant hand, eat with chopsticks, put her cutlery between two bites or drinking a sip of mid-term water. All in an environment without distractions. “”If we are not fully present, it is very easy to eat faster and not to notice the quantity we have consumed“, insists Leslie Heinberg. Helen McCarthy, clinical psychologist at the British Psychological Society, recommends simply to chew longer:”If you chew each bite a little longer, it will slow down your diet“. She also points out that ultra-transformed, soft and easy-to-swallow food promotes this rapid overconsumption.”It is difficult to eat vegetables and proteins at the same rate as something highly transformed and which requires less chewing“, Note this expert.
Taking the time to eat is not a luxury: it is a necessity. For your digestion, your weight, but also your relationship to food. So slow down. Your body will say thank you.