Chew food slowly to lose weight quickly, at least in a scientific study. The secret to overtaking extra pounds is not in diet, but in long chewing, Chinese scientists confirmed at the Harbin University.
The key to reducing excess pounds is not just changing diet and limiting calories, but the way you chew the food. According to scientists, long and careful chewing helps women eat less than usual by giving the feeling of satiety faster.
During an experiment, the researchers observed a group of 14 participants with normal weight and 16 with more rounded forms.
The average age of all volunteers varied between 18 and 28 years. Each girl had to eat a piece of cake while a device calculated how long she chewed the food.
The results show that when you chew each bite 40 times, you eat 12% less than those who chew only 15 times. According to scientists, slower feeding provides the brain with more time to digest the stomach signals that it is already full.
This will avoid overeating and you will learn to control hunger and appetite. On the other hand, the slower you eat, the more you reduce the hunger hormone – ghrelin.
There are two types of saturation – mechanically by filling the stomach and the true saturation that occurs when the milky foods enter the bloodstream and then into the brain.
Those who feed very quickly can only rely on mechanical satiety and stomach stretching to help ease their hunger. This is often the case with huge quantities that explain swelling, drowsiness, states indicating overeating.
Those who eat slowly and chew for a long time, calories reach the brain and cause satiety. These people are satiated in the middle of the meal and can even refrain from continuing or dessert.
This is also very important, except for weight loss, but also for those who want to keep their weight.
Weight loss benefits of chewing slowly
- Enhanced Satiety: Chewing slowly allows more time for the body’s satiety signals to kick in. The hormones responsible for signaling fullness, such as cholecystokinin (CCK), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and peptide YY (PYY), take time to be released and communicate with the brain. By eating more slowly, individuals may feel full with less food, which can lead to reduced calorie intake.
- Mindful Eating: Slow chewing is often part of a broader approach known as mindful eating, where the focus is on being present and aware during meals. This can help individuals recognize hunger and fullness cues better, reducing the likelihood of overeating.
- Improved Digestion: Thorough chewing breaks down food more effectively, aiding the digestion process. This can improve nutrient absorption and may reduce digestive discomfort, which can sometimes be mistaken for hunger, leading to unnecessary eating.
- Psychological Satisfaction: Taking longer to eat a meal can increase the psychological satisfaction derived from the food, which might reduce cravings and the desire for snacking between meals.
- Portion Control: When individuals chew slowly, they typically take smaller bites and pause between them, which can naturally lead to eating smaller portions.
Chewing food slowly as a strategy for weight loss is based on several interrelated concepts related to digestion, satiety, and eating behaviors. First, the process of chewing food thoroughly—also known as mastication—contributes to the mechanical breakdown of food, which can aid digestion. When food is chewed slowly and thoroughly, larger particles are broken down into smaller ones, making it easier for the digestive system to access and absorb nutrients.