WHAT you eat is important, but HOW you eat is also important to weight loss. A recent study published in Pediatrics showed that children that ate more frequently throughout the day were less likely to be overweight or obese. Eating more often is thought to increase metabolism i.e. you burn more calories. If you eat one or two large meals in a day, your body tends to store the calories as fat because it knows those calories must last if for several hours. On the other hand, the body of someone that eats more frequently tends to burn those calories as it knows it will be getting re-fueled shortly. Also, eating slower results in eating less. This is because it takes your stomach about 20 minutes to tell your brain that you are full. If you eat too quickly, then you will have over-eaten by the time your stomach can signal to your brain that you are full. In fact, this signaling process between the stomach and brain is the target of new diabetic and weight loss medications. Easy ways to eat slower include taking smaller bites, chewing food longer, and putting utensils down between bites. Eating slowly has also been shown to increase the body's response to hormones produced in the digestive tract resulting in feeling “full” longer in addition to eating less. Understanding how your body responds to food will help you work WITH your body to achieve weight loss goals.
