Ran across an article today that pointed me to an insulin resistance study in Japan. Okay, first I found a blog that reprinted the entire article as if they'd written it themselves - I have nothing but disgust for thieves of this sort - and found the original one (I assume) that actually linked sources.
In any case, the study I found was a strange one. Eating Fast Leads to Obesity: Findings Based on Self-administered Questionnaires among Middle-aged Japanese Men and Women. I would think that WHAT you eat would matter far more than how fast, but apparently it's not quite as simple.
The basis of the study was a questionnaire that asked several thousand people how fast they ate, among other things. They had to rate themselves on a scale of 'very slow', 'relatively slow', 'medium','relatively fast', and 'very fast'. It's a very open ended question. In any case, long story short - those who ate faster were found to have gained more weight, and had a higher BMI (Body Mass Index).
There's a lot of other reasons to eat slowly to - like enjoying your food more, and turning a meal into a time to relax.
This is good in theory for me, but not practice. I tend to eat because I'm hungry or having a mood swing - It's amazing how fast a granola bar can snap me out of an ill mood. I tend to be multitasking during meals - either I'm reading a book or thinking about work or watching TV. It's often something to get done quickly so I can get back to something more important. I know I eat fast - I tend to be done before everyone else around me.
It's hard to slow down. I'm so used to not paying attention once I've put the food on my plate. It's only on very special meals - or when I'm eating something that's an absolute favorite - that I stop and enjoy. I'm not sure how to change the habit day to day.
If I'm in "the groove" at work, I don't want to interrupt that thought flow at all. If I'm eating by myself, I'd rather read a book to occupy my thoughts. I guess I'll have to experiment and find something that works.
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3 comments:
it's hard to conscientiously eat slow. I find that I eat the slowest when I'm out with friends (in no rush) and we all take turns talking.
You can't really eat while you talk so it's a good spacer.
BTW, shoot me an e-mail sometime!
Our company has already circulated your post about our WaveSense Meter when you had first posted it. We'd love to hear more feedback from you when you have the time!
Your point about what you eat makes more sense to me, Laura, than how fast you eat it. I would think that it's the "what" and the "how much" that are a lot more important than the "how fast."
Albert - I'm going to post my followup on the meter today. Thanks for the response!
Jeff - I'm definitely going to concentrate on what more, but I'd like to get to the end of a meal and actually remember eating it now and then too!
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