A new study, presented at the annual meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, provides the first ever scientific proof that if you eat slowly, you will eat less, and you will enjoy the meal more, and the most important it will keep you slim.
Kathleen Melanson, assistant professor of nutrition and food science at the University of Rhode Island, in the Kingston, US, worked with 30 college-age women to provide evidence that this 30-year-old theory has merit. Melanson decided to conduct the study when she learned there was no research to support the familiar claim that eating slowly reduces appetite.
Women consumed about 70 fewer calories when they were told to take their time eating a meal of pasta and sauce, compared to when they were instructed to eat it as quickly as possible.
The women felt fuller and more satisfied immediately after they ate the meal and an hour later when they had consumed it slowly, Melanson and her colleagues found.
Eating at a slow pace can help maintain weight and even promote weight loss, especially if it is done three times a day, she said. That could lead to 210 fewer calories daily.