Will eating too quickly cause weight gain? The relationship between eating speed and weight.

9. Will wolfing down food make you fat?

People often hear that eating quickly leads to weight gain, with the saying "nine out of ten fat people are fast eaters," while chewing slowly helps prevent weight gain.

Slim. Movie stars often share their slimming secrets, such as "chewing each bite of food dozens of times."

The idea that eating speed can affect weight gain or loss is not unfounded.

Numerous studies have long demonstrated that people who eat quickly do indeed have a higher risk of gaining weight. One study involving over 6,000 people...

A survey conducted among Japanese residents confirmed that skipping breakfast, eating dinner too late, and eating too quickly are three common health problems.

Among healthy eating habits, only eating quickly is positively correlated with weight gain. Those who eat quickly do indeed become obese.

The risk is greater if you eat quickly and then eat dinner late, or if you eat quickly and then skip breakfast.

If you have all three of these bad eating habits, you are at greater risk of obesity (Lee, 2016).

In short, it is generally accepted in academia that eating too quickly is a behavior that can lead to obesity.

However, some people try to chew their food slowly and thoroughly at every meal, only to find that their food intake and weight do not change significantly.

Why is that?

Based on the foreign research data I have obtained and the research results of our laboratory, the eating speed is not...

It is an independent factor affecting weight, and its relationship with weight is likely indirect.

Why do we say that? Let's look at the research evidence.

Researchers have conducted a systematic review of the effects of eating speed on energy intake and hunger perception (Robinson, ...).

(2014). Researchers included 21 high-quality studies on human eating behavior and found that eating quickly does indeed have a significant effect.

Increased self-directed energy intake. Simply put, the basic conclusion that eating quickly leads to eating more is correct, however...

Overall, the impact wasn't that significant. Previous studies haven't found that every study found changes...

Variable eating speed can reduce energy intake in a meal or lower the risk of obesity. This is because each study...

The designs are all different.

Four studies simply told participants to eat slowly and chew more; seven studies changed the food...

Texture, making food softer or firmer, objectively shortens or lengthens chewing time; there are 6 items.

The study controlled eating speed by monitoring the subjects' ingestion rate and providing feedback via computer screens;

Four studies artificially regulated eating speed by adjusting the food serving speed or changing the tableware/container.

Studies that verbally instructed people to eat faster or slower did not yield significant results; while those that altered food...

Studies on texture have found that consuming foods that require thorough chewing does indeed reduce energy intake (Forde).

(et al., 2013).

An analysis of the relationship between eating speed and hunger before the next meal did not find that eating faster increases hunger.

It increases hunger before the next meal. In other words, whether you eat slowly or quickly doesn't seem to affect the food's shelf life.

The effect of hunger.

So why does eating quickly show an effect of promoting obesity in various epidemiological surveys?

This is likely because, on the one hand, how quickly or slowly people eat depends on the texture and characteristics of the food itself.

On the one hand, people's physical conditions vary.

If it's the same type of food, and the same digestive and absorptive capacity, then eating faster or slower won't affect the food intake.

The amount has little impact, and it also has little impact on the effect of keeping you hungry.

In epidemiological investigations, it's clear that people eat different foods, and some foods people crave quickly...

It's impossible. I tried it live when I was doing a TV program.

We first asked the audience members who thought they could "eat quickly" to raise their hands and come up on stage, and then gave each of them a large piece of bread.

Everyone finished eating within half a minute, with the fastest person stuffing the food into their mouth and swallowing it in just over ten seconds.

However, giving everyone a whole apple significantly slowed things down; no one could finish in one minute.

Eat the apple within 1 hour. An apple has roughly the same energy as a slice of bread, but due to the texture of an apple, it doesn't...

It's impossible to swallow even if you chew it properly.

Similarly, people can eat quickly when they eat foods made from white rice and white flour, but when they eat whole grains, such as whole cooked grains...

Oatmeal porridge requires more careful chewing before swallowing, which forces you to slow down your eating speed, measured in units of time.

In terms of time, the energy intake per minute has decreased significantly.

In almost every blood glucose study conducted in our lab, the rate of food intake is measured (due to the length of this article).

(Due to limitations, most data on eating speed have not been published). We have repeatedly found that those with a more chewy texture...

Foods that make people eat more slowly and have a slower blood sugar response result in a stronger feeling of fullness (Wang Shuying et al.).

2013; Zhu et al., 2019). Studies have confirmed that a slower eating rate can increase GLP-1 levels in the gut and

PYY levels of two gastrointestinal hormones related to satiety (Sonoki, 2013).

Eating quickly increases the risk of insulin resistance in middle-aged people (Otsuka, 2008).

Therefore, eating speed is not necessarily an independent factor affecting weight, but if eating speed is always too fast...

The fact that this person is eating so quickly indicates a problem with their diet, likely due to a low proportion of whole grains and insufficient fruit and vegetable intake.

A diet that is inherently prone to causing weight gain. Furthermore, eating too quickly prevents the hypothalamus's satiety center from processing the food in time.

This reaction prevents people from controlling their food intake, making them more prone to weight gain!

The maximum speed at which one can eat is also related to physical condition. Those with poor digestion or dental problems, i.e.,

Even if they want to eat quickly, it's difficult. Their teeth aren't strong enough, so they have to chew slowly; and those with poor digestion... if they don't eat slowly...

Chewing slowly can cause discomfort in the stomach and intestines. Eating slowly may indicate weak digestive abilities, which is a common trait in people with slow digestion.

It's not easy to gain weight after that.

In short, eating quickly is likely not an independent factor contributing to weight gain; it is more likely due to...

Different foods have different digestive and absorption capabilities.

To prevent weight gain, the most important thing is to eat high-fiber, chewy, and nutrient-rich foods. Eating these foods is very...

It's easy to eat quickly and has a balanced diet, so it's not easy to gain weight.