Wouldn’t be great to lose some extra weight without pills, exercise, dieting or any other dietary restrictions? Research suggests it is possible. One of the factors of overeating is fast eating. A faster eating rate impairs the relationship between the sensory signals and the metabolic processes that regulate how much we eat. Some epidemiological studies have already identified this association. Other studies have been conducted to show this relevance, but their limitation was that all of the subjects were of normal body weight.
To see if slow eating will help to reduce energy intake in overweight and obese subject, Meena Shah et al. conducted a study of 70 participants in total. Where half of the participants were overweight and obese and the other half were of normal body weight.
Both groups were found to lower their food and energy intake during slow eating compared with the fast eating. Slow eating led to a reduction in energy intake by 10% in the normal weight and 8% in the overweight/obese subjects, compared with the fast eating condition. The total weight of food and water consumed was not different between the two eating conditions in either group.
The energy density was lower in the slow eating compared with the fast eating condition by 0.11 Cal/g in the normal weight and 0.12 Cal/g in the overweight/obese group. These differences may be attributed to that slow eating may allow people to consume more water than in fast conditions. Additionally, both groups rated their hunger to be lower at 60 minutes from the beginning of the meal than with the fast condition. Although, the normal weight group reported feeling more full at 60 minutes than overweight group. Scientists suggest sensory signals are regulated better when you eat slower, so you feel full before you actually over-ate.
These results indicate that slower eating conditions, without socializing during the meal, may help to reduce energy consumption and keep you full longer, which can help to reduce daily energy intake by about 70 Cal/meal. That can theoretically reduce your daily intake by 210 Cal or about 1500 per week. This sounds like the easiest way to lose body weight ever! Just slow down when eatinng while concentrating on your feelings, and lose some weight while feeling full. No diets, no pills, no exercise is necessary!
