We here in North America (and an increasing percentage of the planet) eat too fast. We eat on the run, on the road, at work, in front of the TV...anywhere we can. And we do it fast. The result? We eat more and enjoy it less. And that doesn't just sound bad, it is bad.
The Badness of Eating Quickly
There are pros and cons to eating quickly. Well, maybe "pro and cons". Pretty much the only "pro" is that it takes less time. Some of the cons include:
- Eating too much. Without time for food to reach the stomach and signals to reach the brain, we tend to keep eating past the point when we should feel "full." We also tend to underestimate how much we ate, which is no surprise since we weren't really paying attention.
- No enjoyment. Eating quickly doesn't allow us to fully appreciate the food. A chef may have spent hours preparing a meal; a tree months growing an apple. Without taking the time to fully experience the food, we miss out on all the enjoyment it can provide.
- Indigestion. Starting with less chewing, the entire digestive process is given the short shrift (another technical term--OK, not really). Food enters the stomach too quickly for it to be properly prepared for its journey through the intestines where nutrients are absorbed. This can lead to upset stomach, acid reflux, chest pain, or worse.
The Goodness of Eating Slowly
Conversely, eating slowly has pros and con, where the "con" is that it usually takes more time. Note that it may not always be the case: you might feel full (or satisfied) just as soon, only by eating slowly, it happens with less food. Which leads us to the pros:
- Eating less. A 2008 study found that eating slowly led to decreases in energy intake within meals in healthy women. That's science-speak for saying they consumed fewer calories in a meal. This shouldn't be a big surprise. For one thing, there's increased awareness of how much we're eating. For another, our bodies have time to signal the brain that it's satisfied before extra food has been stuffed in.
- More enjoyment. The above-mentioned study also states, "After meal completion, pleasantness ratings tended to be higher under the slow condition..." Researchers must be so much fun at parties. But that's after the meal. During the meal, we can appreciate the tastes and textures of the food more acutely when we slow down.
- Better digestion. Digestion is a long process that starts in the mouth with chewing and mixing with saliva. The stomach is the next big player, where acids help break the food down even more. Then the small and large intestines methodically process this mass (called "chyme"), extracting nutrients from it. But when we eat too fast, the mouth and stomach can't do their jobs properly and that can lead not only to discomfort but also reduced nutritional absorption.
So if you want to eat less, enjoy your food more, feel more satisfied, and get more nutritional value from eating, then slow down!
Read more about eating slowly at the Precision Nutrition page All About Slow Eating.
-gary