‘The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.’
Lucille Ball
In the modern era, people get busier and busier, therefore eating in a hurry has become a common thing. You have probably seen people who hold a briefcase in one hand and a sandwich in the other when they are on the way to work. People do not spend enough time on eating their meals properly – slowly, chewing each bite carefully, concentrating only on delicious taste of the food.
Neither I support lying, nor eating fast. Because eating too fast can cause serious consequences, for example, indigestion, weight gain, disconnection with your natural hunger and fullness signals, Also, if you eat too fast on daily basis, it will have detrimental consequences to your digestive system.
Why people do not eat slower?
There are many reasons.
More and more people live hectic lives thus do not have enough time to spend on eating properly. The time which they should be spending on eating slower is taken away by busy schedules at work, having more tasks to accomplish, the boss demanding higher productivity shortening lunch breaks.
While having breakfast, lunch or dinner, people are also distracted by an incredible number of things like computers, smart phones, the Internet, etc. There are tons of things in the world happening too quickly – morning news, social media updates, new episodes of favorite TV series. People simply do not want to ‘waste’ their precious time on such a mundane activity like eating when there are so many other ‘great things’ happening at the same time.
The food itself may be the reason too. The dish just does not taste good, and hence we want to finish as soon as possible. Huge portions of microwaved-ready meals consumed by millions of Americans do not encourage extraordinary culinary experiences.
I am as guilty as you are of not eating slower. Every time when I start my meal, I very often find myself eating too fast taking big bites to fulfill hunger. Then, after a few bites I realize, or my wife makes me realize, that I should slow down. And then, I stick to the slow-eating tips and try to improve.
How to eat slower?
I have started practicing eating my food slower not long time ago, and still have a lot to improve. But my wife is really good at this stuff (probably because she uses chopsticks more often than I do). I have picked up most of these ideas from her.
– Make sure that you have enough time to eat your meal, around one hour should be enough which is comprised of 30 minutes of eating and 30 minutes of letting your stomach digest the food.
– Try to minimize or get rid of all distractions around you. Put your phone and computer away, do not turn on the TV while eating. Focus on the food instead of talking to others with your mouth full.
– Eat food that tastes good. Stick to restaurants that offer delicious food and listen to your friends who may know good places and are willing to recommend a few good-quality restaurants. Also, learn to cook simple yet delicious meals at home.
– Order reasonable portions. By eating smaller portions, you not only help your stomach digest the food faster, but also contribute to overall fitness. Stay away from XXL-size meals offered by fast food chains.
– Take small bites and chew carefully. The food will not run away from the plate. Use fork and knife or chopsticks as often as possible. Holding burgers in your hands and taking big bites is a big no-no. I know that people in the TV commercials eat in this way, but do you know what happens to those people once the commercial is over?
– Do not starve yourself. If you are really hungry, you will jump into eating more once you see any food to compensate for the time when you had nothing to eat.
Benefits of eating slower
Eating slower has a lot of benefits.
First, you will start to enjoy and favor healthier meals as most processed food only tastes good during the first few bites.
Second, you will not have stomach aches related to indigestion.
Third, you will lose weight and get slimmer.
Forth, you will be able to absorb all the nutrients making your body stronger than before.
In many countries, people turned cooking into an art. For example, in Japan, many dishes are done to perfection, portions are small, the time spent on dining is relatively longer. Why can’t we all, no matter where we live, master eating slower too?
