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Fit Question: Are You a Fast Eater?

There are plenty of dieting 'rules' we've heard before, like drinking a glass of water before giving into a craving, using smaller plates to control our portions or brushing our teeth to avoid diving into a bag of Oreos. But, there's one rule that makes sense no matter what the situation and it's one my mother was on my case about for most of my childhood: Eat slow. I didn't really listen to her back then (sorry, Mom), but I am now, especially after reading about a recent study showing that eating more slowly can help you control how many calories you're eating. In the small study (there were only 17 adults included), participants were put into two groups: One told to eat a bowl of ice cream in 5 minutes and another group told to eat it in 30 minutes. The first question that comes to mind is: Who eats a bowl of ice cream in 30 minutes? The scientists didn't say what happens when the ice cream turns into a soupy mess, but let's set that aside for a moment to learn what the conclusion was: "Eating at a physiologically moderate pace leads to a more pronounced anorexigenic gut peptide response than eating very fast." In other words, the people who ate the ice cream in 30 minutes released more 'I-feel-full' hormones than the people who ate it more quickly. That means, people who eat more slowly may eat fewer calories than fast eaters. I have to admit, I'm a fast eater and always have been, despite attempts to slow myself down, but this is just one more reason to work a little harder at it. What about you? Do you pay attention to how fast you eat and do you think it affects your weight? Leave a comment to tell us about your eating habits and how they contribute to how many calories you eat. Fit Question: Are You a Fast Eater? originally appeared on About.com Exercise on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 05:00:38.Permalink | Comment | Email this
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