Posts Tagged ‘eating fast’

Eating fast leads to overeating according to a new study. Eating quickly curtails the release of hormones that help you feel full. The decrease of these hormones can lead to overeating. This has been suspected for a long time. The only difference is there are specific gut hormones that are named. If anyone watched the speed eating contests you can get the idea.

 ”Most of us have heard that eating fast can lead to food overconsumption and obesity, and in fact some observational studies have supported this notion,” said Alexander Kokkinos, MD, PhD, of Laiko General Hospital in Athens Greece and lead author of the study. “Our study provides a possible explanation for the relationship between speed eating and overeating by showing that the rate at which someone eats may impact the release of gut hormones that signal the brain to stop eating.”

“Our findings give some insight into an aspect of modern-day food overconsumption, namely the fact that many people, pressed by demanding working and living conditions, eat faster and in greater amounts than in the past,” said Kokkinos. “The warning we were given as children that ‘wolfing down your food will make you fat,’ may in fact have a physiological explanation.”

Overconsumtion is good news for the fast food industry. Most of our modern food requires very little work to get down. Modern food comes in powders, high protein shakes, bars, soda, and white bread. All require no work to consume. Just pop it in to a toaster and you have breakfast on the go. Wolfing down food has become easier than ever. Many of these items are high is sugar and considering that at the rate we eat sugar, teeth will be a thing of the past. Now we will have a legitimate  reason not to chew our food.

Expanding waist lines, and obesity are a major concern. By eating slower you’ll consume less calories. There is data that confirms this. It shows you can lose 20 lbs a year without any other adjustments. Another factor to consider while eating is that digestion starts in the mouth. Food is mixed with ptyalin, an enzyme secreted by the salivary glands. Pylatin converts insoluble starches into simple sugars. Starchy food is used by the body for energy. Since much of our diet is starchy foods, we are cutting off our energy supply.

Undigested starches pass through the stomach into the intestines where fermentation takes place, and this creates toxins. The liver is now in charge of processing this mess.The importance of chewing food properly is recognised by many cultures. On the Japanese macrobiotic diet it is recommended that you chew at least 20 times before swallowing. That is the very minimum, if you have any kind of health challenge it ranges from 50 to 100 times for each mouthful. This way of eating has helped many people heal. The diet is made up of whole foods, and it is important to assimilating all the nutrients. Since our diets tend to be food that is easy to gulp down, it is now unhealthful on another level.

We live in a culture that wants instant gratification, and eating at the speed of light, provides this. What we get in speed we lose in enjoyment. Food is not as great a pleasure when you rush it. In fact if people slowed down when they ate they would realized what they are eating, and change their menu. Mindful eating means understanding your lifestyle and philosophy about food. Eating fast leads to overeating and poor food choices. The bottom line eat nutritious food in a healthy way.