Thứ Sáu, 14 tháng 11, 2008

Don’t Eat Fast, Eat Till Full if You Don’t Want to Get Fat!

Fearing of getting fat seems to be a great concern for many people as they are fully aware that once they become overweight, chances that they would develop heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and other medical complications would be higher. Therefore, they seek all means to reduce or at least maintain their weight. Perhaps people should now also eat slowly and not eat until they feel full to avoid gaining weight.

In a recent study, Japanese researchers from Osaka University announced that people who eat fast and eat until they feel full are 3 times more likely to grow fat, as compared with those who eat slowly and modestly. Their findings were published online on October 21, 2008 by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The participants, 1,222 men and 2,165 women aged between 30 and 69, were asked to closely monitor their own eating habits and BMI (body mass index), a benchmark of obesity.

From the data collected, about half of the men and just over half of the women ate until they were full, and just under half of the men and a little more than a third of the women ate quickly.

The researchers indicated that men and women who ate until full were twice as likely to be overweight when comparing to those who did not eat until full. Meanwhile, those who ate both fast and until they felt full were 3 times as likely to be overweight.

In the study, people who ate until full and those who reported eating swiftly, were tracked separately, and researchers found that those who ate until full had a higher calorie intake than those who ate fast.

According to the explanation made by other health experts, the drive to eat quickly is a genetic survival mechanism. In other words, humans are prone to over consume energy when it is available.

There are few reasons that would make such eating behavior to grow. Firstly, the sociology of food consumption changes with fewer families eating together. Secondly, more people eat while distracted, for instance, they eat while watching television programs. Finally, people eat fast food while on the go.

Meanwhile, the increased availability of fast food, which is energy-dense and served in substantially larger portions, could explain why people tend to eat beyond satiety.

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