In a recent study, scientists found that when a group of subjects were given the same serving of ice cream on different occasions, the subjects who ate it in 30 minutes released more “feeling full” hormones than those who ate the ice cream in five minutes. (Bet it was melty by then)
The scientists took blood samples and measured hormones before, during and after the subjects savored their ice cream. They found that the two hormones that cause you to feel full — glucagon-like peptide-1 and peptide YY — were more pronounced when food was eaten slowly.
This falls in line with a 2008 study published in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association that reported subjects consumed roughly 10 percent fewer calories when they ate slower.
So, if you eat slower, you are going to eat less. I think we knew this one already — it’s sage dieting advice that it takes 20 minutes for your belly to tell your brain you are full, but now you have some scientific jargon to solidify it for you.
Eat slower, eat less. This only works if you stop eating when you are full (which is a whole other ball of wax) so if you have trouble eating beyond the point of satiety, eat slower and pay attention to how you feel. When you are satisfied, you are done, but if you scarf your food, you’ll consume more by the time you get the message.
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