This easy way to lose weight doesn't involve exercise or major diet changes.
One study found that eating slowly helped people lose twice as much weight.
Just by chewing each bite for 30 seconds, study participants lost 5 pounds in six months.
In contrast, a control group that ate at a normal pace gained about 8 pounds.
No exercise or major dietary changes were involved.
The method of eating slowly works because it allows more time for the feeling of fullness to travel from the stomach to the brain.
Study co-author Professor Schmid-Schoenbein said:
“You can adopt this slow-eating method for yourself and stick to it for the rest of your life.
You can teach this method to your children, and they can in turn teach their children. “
The study included 54 children aged 6 to 17 years.
They were told to chew each bite for 30 seconds and given a small hourglass to help them time it.
Study co-author Professor Pedro Cabrales said:
“The hourglass makes it more of a game.
We also noticed that the children were responsible for each other.
If someone forgets the hourglass, someone else will remind them. “
The only other instructions given in the study were to drink a glass of water before meals and avoid snacking between meals.
The results showed that children who ate slowly lost between 3 and 5 percent of their body weight over a year.
In contrast, a control group of similar children gained 7 to 8 percent over the course of the year.
Slow eating works because it gives the “satiety reflex” more time to reach the brain.
A full stomach message takes about 15 minutes to arrive, but many people finish a meal faster than that.
Study co-author Dr Ruy Perez-Tamayo said:
“Our approach focuses on preventing weight gain.
It's simple, cheap and easy to follow. “
The study was published in the journal childhood obesity (Salazar Vázquez et al., 2015).
