To Lose Weight, Eat Slower

Here’s an affordable weight loss strategy: eat slowly. Researchers at the University of Rhode Island have found what they call “a close association” between eating rate and body mass index (BMI), meaning people with a high BMI eat faster than those with a low BMI. How much faster? A URI news release reports that researchers found that fast eaters consume about 3.1 ounces of food per minute, medium-speed eaters consume 2.5 ounces per minute, and slow eaters eat 2 ounces per minute. Wait, there’s more. They also found “very strong gender differences” in eating rates, meaning that men ate about 80 calories per minute at lunch while the women ate 52 calories per minute. Want to know how to eat slower? Eat whole grains. The researchers found that when people ate whole grain cereal and whole wheat toast, they ate  significantly more slowly than when eating a similar meal of refined grains. That, they say, is because whole grains are more fibrous, so you have to chew them more. “It takes time for your body to process fullness signals,” says Kathleen Melanson, URI associate professor of nutrition, who led the study. “Slower eating may allow time for fullness to register in the brain before you’ve eaten too much.” Read more from the University of Rhode Island.